We are repeating the same mistakes in Fata that we made in East Pakistan.

Mengal says he has come to Islamabad to tell people how the Baloch are living their lives every day. PHOTO: ONLINE

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan met Sardar Akhtar Mengal in Islamabad on Saturday, where both political leaders discussed the current law and order situation in Balochistan.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Mengal thanked the PTI leadership for supporting the six points he raised in the Supreme Court related to the missing persons case.
When asked about the involvement of foreign hands in Balochistan, Mengal said, “There are about 20-25 cameras even over here. I guess the foreign hands are only visible from Rehman Malik’s spectacles. He himself holds a foreign passport and blames us for having a foreign hand’s involvement.”
Mengal asserted that he had not come to the federal capital to talk to the government about the issue, but came to assist the Supreme Court because he saw a ray of hope with the apex court. “We have talked a lot about Balochistan and we are still talking about it. The ones who had to understand have understood us,” he said and added that his conscience is satisfied about the issues he has raised.
“The people here should also know what is happening to the people in Balochistan,” he maintained.
Citing the example of Sui gas, which was extracted from Balochistan but reached the province at the very end, Mengal said, “If there is 3-4 hours of gas loadshedding here, people create havoc. But you should know what is happening in Balochistan to the people who own this gas. We are being burnt in the same gas furnace.”
Khan also addressed the media where he reiterated his stance against the military operations being carried out in Balochistan and stressed that political problems cannot be solved through military solutions. “The time has come for a new Pakistan, where we move forward learning from our past mistakes… where decisions for provinces are made on the basis of justice… We are repeating the same mistakes in Fata that we made in East Pakistan. We are giving our enemies a chance to exploit the situation.”
Khan added that there will be no future of Pakistan till the provinces are treated with justice. “Peace will come through justice,” he maintained.

High profile romance in Pakistan exposed

by Preeta Memon
September 23, 2012

 

 

One of the Western intelligence agencies have found romantic relations between youngest foreign minister of Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar and Bilawal Bhutto, the son of President Asif Ali Zardari and slain Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

 

The report even indicated a 'cold feud' between the father and the son, following Bilawal's decision of marrying Hina Rabbani Khar, as she is poised to end her marital relations with millionaire businessman Firoze Gulzar, from whom she has two daughters named Annaya and Dina. Born on November 19, 1977, Hina Rabbani Khar hails from an influential feudal and landowner family and is the daughter of politician and landowner Nur Rabbani Khar and the niece of Ghulam Mustafa Khar, a former Governor of Punjab. The Khar family has roots in the village of Khar Gharbi located in Kot Adu – a tehsil (subdivision) in Muzaffargarh District in Punjab; and has many land holdings. The Khar family owns an estate that includes fisheries, mango orchards, and sugarcane fields as well as a local steel mill.

 

After graduating from local high school, Khar attended the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in 1995, and earned B.Sc. in Economics with cum laude in 1999. The same year, she went to United States to resume her higher studies and attended the post-graduate school of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and subsequently earned a Master's degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management in 2002.

 

Hina Rabbani Khar was brought into national prominence and national political arena by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in 2004, who publicly appointed her into the Finance ministry. In previous 2002 general elections, she successfully contested and secured the parliamentary constituency of her father, after most members of the family were disqualified. With financial support of her father, she campaigned on a newly founded PML (Q Group) platform against Pakistan Muslim League. After the elections, Khar was elected as a Member of Parliament, representing the NA-177, Muzaffargarh-II constituency in Punjab, a position her father had held previously, but a new law requiring all candidates to hold a university degree meant he could not run that year. The Guardian wrote, "In deference to local sensibilities about the place of women, her landlord father Noor addressed rallies and glad-handed voters; Hina stayed largely at home, with not even her photo appearing on the posters." In 2005, she was elevated as the deputy minister of economic affairs and served under Shaukat Aziz. As deputy minister, she dealt extensively with the donor community during the 2005 earthquake that hit Northern Pakistan.

 

In 2007, she made an unsuccessful attempt to renew her alliance with PML-Q, but the party denied her a ticket platform to campaign for re-election in 2008, she was later invited by the senior members of the Pakistan Peoples Party and successfully campaign for her constituency for a second time. The PPP secured plurality of the votes and formed a left-wing alliance with the Awami National Party, MQM and PML-Q. They nominated and elected Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister.

 

It is learnt from the intelligence source that, President Asif Ali Zardari is vehemently opposing his son's willingness of knotting marital relations with a woman with two children, saying it would not only jeopardize Bilawal's political career but would also invite political doom for the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Being aggrieved by his son's ego and determination in making family with Hina Rabbani Khar, Asif Ali Zardari played key-role behind using country's intelligence agencies in spreading the scandal about the evasion of electricity bills worth 70 million Rupees by Galaxy Textile Mills, a company owned by Khar's husband Firoze Gulzar and father-in-law. The media reports also alleged that she and her husband are also among many other beneficiaries of NRO - an ordinance drafted to save corruption money and provide immunity to the corrupt.

At this stage, sensing his father's aggressive attitude towards Hina Rabbani Khar, Bilawal expressed anger and even threatened of resigning from the post of Presidency of Pakistan People's Party. He even told Asif Ali Zardari that he would settle in Switzerland with Hina Rabbani Khar and her daughters, though later he even told his father that, Hina might leave her daughters with her husband after the divorce. It may be mentioned here that, Bilawal Bhutto's mother Benazir Bhutto left a hidden wealth worth a few billion dollars in Switzerland and Bilawal is the legal nominee of all those properties.

 

The secret affairs between Bilawal Bhutto and Hina Rabbani Khar came to the knowledge of Asif Ali Zardari, when the duo was caught in compromised situation inside the official residence of the President, where his son Bilawal Bhutto also resides. Later, President Zardari collected mobile call records between Bilawal and Hina and found evidences of relations between the two. The relations became much exposed to Asif Ali Zardari, when Hina Rabbani Khar sent Bilawal a greeting card on his birthday on September 21, 2011 with hand-written message stating – "The foundation of our relations is eternal and soon we shall be just ourselves."

 

It may be mentioned here that, Bilawal Bhutto is 11 years younger than Hina Rabbani Khar. Earliest this year, Bilawal Bhutto was caught in sex scandal with some unknown females.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2012/sep/19/anti-islam-film-protests?intcmp=239

Muslims have made themselves a laughing stock by acting like this - what about ignoring it with disdainful dignity instead?

I suppose many Americans were grievously offended by Muslims taking down the American flag outside their embassy and replacing it with an Islamic one on September 11th. But guess what, they sucked it up and didn't riot.

I expect a lot of Christians are grievously offended when Muslims tell them that the New Testament is corrupt, but points towards Mohammed, that Jesus isn't the son of God and was never crucified. But guess what, they suck it up and don't riot.

I expect a lot of Hindus are grievously offended when Muslims tell them they are pagan Satanists because they are polytheists. But guess what...

I expect that many women are grievousy offended when Muslims tell them they can't be respected if they are visible, that they should be governed and by men and that marital rape doesn't exist (I could go on). But guess what...

I expect that many homosexuals are grievously offended when Muslims say they should never have sex or they will be punished in ways ranging from flogging to execution. But guess what...

I expect many atheists are grievously offended when they are told by Muslims that they are dumb cattle and that they will burn in hell for all eternity, and that some Muslims will find it highly amusing. But guess what...

I expect many Buddhists were grievously offended when Muslims destroyed their holy shrines. But guess what...

I expect many Jews are grievously offended by having a mosque on their holiest site, are referred to as monkeys and are blamed for a film made by an Egyptian. But you guessed it, they don't riot.
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We should protest and freak out for them stoning women and not caring about human rights!

This is insane and just too much. They want to start WWIII because of a silly youtube video.

Nobody would've cared about this bad production, and now it made history! Well done!

I could only watch it for a few seconds it was that bad.
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No matter how insulted you are, there's NO reason to hurt and kill innocent people out of rage!

It's almost as if they are insecure about themselves...why can't they stand above all of this?

We'll all end up in hell anyway, in their eyes.

I thank god every day for making ma an atheist!
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There are about 1.5 billion people alive today who have been born into Islam - about five times the population of the USA, and not much less than a quarter of the population of the world. Let's say about 1 billion of them are of "protesting" age.

The number of protesters is in its thousands. Their actions have been hysterical and appalling of course, but let's have some perspective here.
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You refer to what Muslim leaders should do. The protests were NOT organised by the leaders. They were either spontaneous or organised by fanatics and extremists. Riot policemen lost their lives in Khartoum to protect the US embassy .The official statements in the Sudan and Egypt(for example) asked people to resort to the law .

Freedom of expression in Western democracies is limited in 3 ways

1- Self censorship

2- Ownership.:When a certain British newspaoer changed hand last year its line on certain foreign policy matters changed 100%

3-Finance. The BBC is held in high esteem abroad because its reliance on license fee makes it less vulnerable to pressure groups or financiers..The Leveson enquiry has been told how R. Murdoch (after controlling The Times)interferred even in editorials.

Moreover , those of us who try to express a moderate point of view know from experience that they can do so now ONLY in the Guardian.
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The law CAN be resorted to ,if the political will is there.In the USA the Fighting Words Doctrine of 1942 is based on a supreme Court ruling that considered the seriousness of "insulting or fighting words" which "by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace."

Holocaust deniers are quite rightly silenced.I have visited a concentration camp and met a survivor.The Nazi prejudice was both religious and racist. To their credit Pentagon leaders recently put an end to a course in a military academy that discussed wiping out Mecca !
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The demonstrations against this film, though widespread, have been tiny compared to the massive pro-democracy demonstrations going on for two years now across the Arab world.
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There seems to be a widespread misubderstanding ,even among the "experts".The Anti-Islam film was the trigger for a host of pent up grievances.In other words,the protests were not exclusively about the film.They were an expression of frustration in the face of many acts of prejudice ;including Abu Ghraib ,Guantanamo bay, urination on Afghan corpses and condoning the Israeli far- right's humiliation of the Palestinians.A relevant factor is the existence within Western democracies of precedents-based on law- of restrictions that limit expression of racist,holocaust denying or outrageous invasion of privacy of royalty.
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Muslims can blaspheme against Islam, it is completely I possible for non-Muslims to do so.
Muslims should not depict their Prophet. Non-Muslims can do.
Muslims should not insult Mohammed. Non-Muslims are under no such obligation.
Muslim protesters would make Muslims of us all.
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That movie was created in bad taste by a warped mind. Freedom of expression comes with responsibility and sensitivity to others' feelings. I know how Americans reacted when 9/11 happened. Every male with a beard, brown skinned, sometimes Sikhs were looked at with suspicion, whisked away for interrogation, taken out of planes, in one case shot and killed by an irate and ignorant man. People do not realize how emotions affect people.

You are right about the movie being in bad taste, and also right that post 9/11 many 'brown skinned' people living peacefull lives in the US, suffered from suspician and abuse, and many others suffered and died in the illegal invasions that followed.

But I hope you are not comparing the hijacking of planes to crash into a huge city and killing thousands, with the making of a crap, home-made film..?

One affects peoples sensitivities, the other kills them. I really hope it wasn't your intention to compare..:
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Agreed I watched it - looked like some sort of silly film made by uni students on speed. muslims let themselves down by over reacting to something so daft and frankly not worth all the effort. They have made themselves a laughing stock by acting like this - what about ignoring it with disdainful dignity instead?

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Karachi protests: Quaid’s sister came to the movies here

Six of Karach­i’s cinema houses set on fire by mobs on Ishq-e-Rasool Day.

  For nearly three decades, the people who work at Bambino Cinema were able to somehow protect it from the mobs that would steamroll MA Jinnah Road during countless protests. But on Friday, their luck ran out: Nishat, Prince and Capri on MA Jinnah Road were set ablaze. A similar fate lay in store for Gulistan in Landhi and Nargis in Quaidabad.

Nawab Hasan Siddiqui, the owner of Nishat Cinema, said he will never open it again. “Now I know there is no guarantee of our safety. No assurance is enough. We did everything that they [protest organisers] had asked us to do.”

He is referring to the fact that Nishat had already decided to close for four days. “I have shut it down every Muharram, on 12th Rabi-ul Awal and whenever I was asked.”

The cinema has been destroyed. Since its inauguration by Fatima Jinnah in 1947, no one had attacked it. “I will miss the days – the time when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Huseyn Shaheed Suharwardy and Fatima Jinnah came here to watch movies,” he said.

It was too early to estimate the cost of the damage, but Siddiqui said it was in the millions of rupees.Thousands of men holding sticks, bricks and some of them guns descended on public and private property on MA Jinnah Road. They were chanting slogans and were backed by half a dozen political and religious parties.

“We begged, pleaded and even told them lies that children were inside,” said a man who works for a communication devices shop located in the Bambino Cinema building. “They attacked the place three times and finally barged in and set fire to everything.”

A fire engine, which rushed to save the cinema, was also attacked. The firefighters were dragged out of the vehicle, their clothes torn and they were beaten. No one from the rescue services dared venture to that part of MA Jinnah after that.

“Now it’s Rio Cinema’s turn,” said a teenager as he filmed the ashes and glass floating down from the Bambino building. “The United States doesn’t know who they have messed with.”

As cellular services were jammed, traders rushed to salvage their businesses after seeing footage on television.

One businessman was hysterical. He runs restaurants in two of the cinemas, which have been gutted. “I tried calling the fire brigade people but they refused to come. Do you know where we can find a water tanker? Did no one come forward to save it?”

A Sindh Bank’s branch located beside Nishat Cinema was also looted. Only orange cash bags survived.Burning tyres every few feet ran like an obstacle course the entire stretch of MA Jinnah Road and connecting streets, which lead to the electronics market and beyond.

Throughout the afternoon and late into the evening the protesters fought pitched battles with the police, which did not let anyone to cross the Native Jetty Bridge despite coming under intense firing and a hail of rocks.

Every time police fired tear-gas shells and fired shots into the air, the demonstrators would run back. “Come back. Come back. Let’s fight,” came shouts from men in shalwar kameez bolstered by younger ones in jeans. Party affiliation didn’t matter as long as a person was part of the protest.

By evening, PIDC intersection had turned into a war zone with shreds of paper strewn everywhere. Branches of National Bank of Pakistan, NIB Bank, UBL, Al Baraka and a KFC outlet were looted and torched.

“People took everything. Computer monitors, printers, chairs, cash machines and even cheque books,” said a witness. Nearby, in front of the containers stood the carcasses of police mobile vans, which blocked the way to the Chief Minister’s residence.

Despite the odds and being outnumbered, the police faced the protesters with grit, without armoured personnel vehicles or the backing of the Rangers.

 Pakistan explodes in fury as south Asia's Muslims join anti-US protests

Violent demonstrations leave 30 dead as Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka witness Islamic anger at America

At least Thirty people were killed and nearly 200 injured in Pakistan on Friday as angry protests that have raged all week against a blasphemous US film mocking the prophet MUhammad continued to engulf the Muslim world.

There were violent demonstrations in Pakistan after the government took the questionable decision to declare a national holiday to allow people to rally against the video.

Tens of thousands took to the streets in all major cities. Many protests descended into serious unrest. Protesters threw objects at police, who retaliated with teargas canisters and live rounds.

The provocative US trailer, Innocence of Muslims, also prompted protests in at least half a dozen other countries on Friday, with demonstrators burning American flags and effigies of Barack Obama. The unrest capped a tumultuous 10 days that has seen the murder of the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, in what the White House says was a well-plotted terrorist attack, possibly linked to al-Qaida.

The film has caused a deep crisis for the US administration. It has also provoked a pained discussion in Europe and the US over the boundaries of free speech. Several of the latest protests were also directed at France after the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo published fresh Muhammad caricatures.

France took a tough line on protests on Friday, with the interior minister, Manuel Valls, saying no demonstrations against the cartoons would be allowed. Paris closed its embassy in Egypt, where a few dozen protesters congregated on Friday. Germany also shut its Egypt mission.

But it was Pakistan that saw the most inflammatory scenes. Some 195 people were reportedly wounded in the cities of Peshawar, Karachi and Islamabad – with nine killed in Karachi and four in Peshawar. One of the Karachi dead was a policeman.

In Peshawar, the frontier city close to the Afghan border, mobs attacked buildings and set fire to cinemas. One victim, Muhammad Amir, was the driver of broadcast truck owned by the television network ARY. He was hit by police fire. He later died of his wounds in hospital but not before the television station broadcast continuous loops of him in obvious pain being attended to in an emergency room.

In Karachi rioters torched police vans, looted shops and even attacked the coastal port city's fire brigade. For a second day running in Islamabad, the normally sedate capital, violence was concentrated in front of the five-star Serena hotel,situated on a road that leads to the entrance to the fenced-off diplomatic quarter where the US embassy is located.

"America has challenged the Muslim nation by making this movie," said a 19-year-old called Mohammad Fayyaz, who kept his face covered as he joined the violence in the capital. He added: "We will not go until the man who made the film is hanged."

The White House has made desperate efforts over the past week to defuse the protests. Speaking on television and radio adverts, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has emphasised that the US government had nothing to do with the film's production. The acting US ambassador in Pakistan, Richard Hoagland, met with government officials to once again to reiterate that the US government "condemned this video's content and its message".

But the US's vigorous campaign of public diplomacy appears not to have worked. In many places in Pakistan, crowds were able to break through barricades placed in their way by police. Images streaming in from all over the country on Pakistan's frenetic cable news channels got steadily grimmer as what the government had billed as "love of prophet Muhammad day" wore on and protests descended into battles and looting.

Mobile phone networks had been turned off in 15 cities in an effort to frustrate the ability of crowds to organise themselves, but it appeared to have no effect and services were restored well before the originally advertised time of 6pm. In Lahore, the grand colonial era Mall Road was the setting for skirmishes by demonstrators who also attempted to approach the US consulate in the city.

In Iraq about 3,000 protesters condemned the film as well as the French caricatures. The protest in the southern city of Basra was organised by Iranian-backed Shia groups. Some protesters raised Iraqi flags and posters of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, while chanting "death to America".

In the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, about 2,000 Muslims burned effigies of Obama and US flags at a protest after Friday prayers. In Bangladesh, over 2,000 people marched through the streets of the capital, Dhaka, to express outrage at the film. Small and mostly orderly protests were also held in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Thousands also gathered in Lebanon's Bekaa valley for the latest in a series of protest rallies organised by the militant group Hezbollah. There was also unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir. Police imposed a day-long curfew in the Kashmir valley, and in the main city, Srinagar, police chased away protesters. Authorities in the region also temporarily blocked mobile and internet services.

Critics in Pakistan lambasted the decision of the government to make Friday a national holiday. They said hardline religious parties, many of them fronts for banned terrorist organisations, hijacked the day off as a chance to show off their street power.

Raza Rumi, a prominent analyst and newspaper columnist, said the government had chosen a policy of appeasement. "The government is under immense pressure to appear as Islamic and as pious as anyone," he said. "But it could have chosen alternative strategy of engaging with the various religious groups and launched a public campaign to educate people rather than letting them take to the streets."

Earlier in the day, Pakistan's prime minister, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, addressed a gathering of politicians and top clerics in Islamabad. While he called for peaceful protests, he also used language likely to inflame the many protests that have claimed the video is part of a plot involving Jewish, Israeli and US interests. "It is ironical that denial of holocaust is considered a crime but no consideration is paid to the feelings of Muslims," he said. "I hope the international community and Islamic world will be successful in preventing such things."

If the intention of the government was to burnish its Islamic credentials in the run-up to the election in six months, many protesters were not convinced. "[President Asif Ali] Zardari is a man with no grace, he should resign," said Tabarak Lateef, a 22-year-old protester in Islamabad. "Our rulers are traitors, they are American slaves and they should be ashamed of themselves."

Anti-Islam film: Protesters storm diplomatic enclave in Islamabad, army called in

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of demonstrators protesting against the anti-Prophet Muhammad film stormed the diplomatic enclave in Islamabad, Pakistan on Thursday. Authorities were forced to call in the army to control the situation which threatened to escalate into violence.

Hotels frequented by foreigners were also attacked by the demonstrators. This was the most violent show of anger in a day that saw smaller demonstrations in Indonesia, Iran and Afghanistan.

The vulgar depiction of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in an American-made movie has angered Muslims across the world, with many taking to the streets to rally against the film. In recent days, the decision by a French satirical magazine to release cartoons crudely depicting the prophet has added to the tension.

The demonstrations are expected to grow in Pakistan on Friday, the traditional day of prayer in the Muslim world. The Pakistani government has called a national holiday for Friday so that people could come out and demonstrate peacefully against the film.

That decision drew rare words of praise from the Pakistani Taliban, which is usually at war with the government.A spokesman for the militant group said it welcomed the decision but also thought the government should expel all American diplomats.

Violence over the amateurish movie, which portrays the prophet as a fraud, womanizer and child molester, has left at least 30 people in seven countries dead, including the American ambassador to Libya. Two people have died in protests in Pakistan.

In Indonesia, the US consulate in the country's third-largest city of Medan shut its doors Thursday for a second day because of demonstrations. About 50 students from an Islamic university gathered in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province in Indonesia. They burned tires and forced a McDonald's restaurant to close. The door was later covered with a sign saying, "This must be closed as a symbol of our protest of the 'Innocence of Muslims' made in the US," referring to the title of the film.

In Iran, hundreds of students and clerics gathered outside the French embassy in Tehran to protest the publication of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in the French weekly.

Protesters chanted "Death to France" and "Down with the US" and burned the flags of the United States and Israel. The demonstration ended after two hours.

In Kabul, a few hundred people demonstrated in the downtown area against the film, chanting ant-American slogans before dispersing peacefully.

(With inputs from Associated Press)



Warm up: Akmal's sixes win the day

 September 17, 2012 -

COLOMBO: Kamran Akmal smashed an unbeaten 92 off 50 balls as Pakistan came from behind to defeat India by five wickets in a warm-up match for the World Twenty20 on Monday.

Pakistan, chasing India's commanding 185-3, appeared to be out of contention when they lost five wickets by the 12th over with just 91 runs on the board at the Premadasa stadium.

But Akmal and former captain Shoaib Malik turned the game around with a brilliant unbroken stand of 95 off 46 balls that helped Pakistan beat the shell-shocked Indians with five balls to spare.Akmal plundered six sixes, including the winning shot off seamer Irfan Pathan which sailed over the cover fence. Malik remained unbeaten on 37 off 18 balls.

"We knew that if India could post a huge total, so could we," said Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez. "Kamran was exceptional, and Malik's experience also helped."

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the batting worked well, but the bowlers needed to contain runs on the easy-paced wickets.

"It was not really a bad game for us," he said. "We have got to work on a few things with our bowling."

India and Pakistan are drawn in different groups for the preliminary league, but are seeded to meet in the Super Eights round in Colombo on September 30.

Pakistan test fires Babur Cruise Missile Hatf-VII

Monday, 17 September 2012 11:14

  

Pakistan conducted a successful test fire of Babur Cruise Missile Hatf-VII having a range of 700 kilometers, media reported on Monday.
The successful test has also been warmly appreciated by the President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Khalid Shameem Wynne, who have congratulated the scientists and engineers on their outstanding success.

  Protests Erupt Over Anti-Islam Film 

A low-budget film that Muslims say insults the Prophet Muhammad has prompted a wave of protests across various countries.

Western embassies across the Muslim world are on high alert for violence stemming from the film "The Innocence of Muslims" produced by an obscure group in the United States.

Pakistan -- Hundreds of protesters demonstrating against an anti-Islam film torched a press club and a government building in northwest Pakistan on Monday, sparking clashes with police that left at least one person dead. Demonstrations also turned violent outside a U.S. military base in Afghanistan and the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia.

The attacks were the latest in a week-long wave of violence sparked by the low-budget film, which portrays Islam's Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester. Many of the protests have targeted U.S. diplomatic posts throughout the Muslim world, including one that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, forcing Washington to ramp up security in select countries.

Protesters have directed their anger at the U.S. government even though the film was privately produced and American officials have criticized it for intentionally offending Muslims.

 In neighboring Afghanistan, hundreds of people burned cars and threw rocks at a U.S. military base in the capital, Kabul. Many in the crowd shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to those people who have made a film and insulted our prophet."

 Later in the day, protests broke out in other areas of Kabul, including the main thoroughfare into the city, where demonstrators burned shipping containers and tires. The crowd torched at least one police vehicle before finally dispersing, according Daoud Amin, the deputy police chief for Kabul province.

 In Jakarta, hundreds of Indonesians angered over the film clashed with police outside the U.S. Embassy, hurling rocks and firebombs and setting tires alight outside the mission, marking the first violence seen in the world's most populous Muslim country since international outrage over the film exploded last week.

The wave of international violence began last Tuesday when mainly Islamist protesters climbed the U.S. Embassy walls in the Egyptian capital of Cairo and tore down the American flag from a pole in the courtyard.

The U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, was killed Tuesday along with three other Americans, as violent protesters stormed the consulate in Benghazi. Protesters have also stormed the U.S. Embassies in Tunis and Yemen and held violent demonstrations outside other posts.

Mike (former soldier)
Sep. 17, 2012
7:48 AM

These so called protests are just ban excuse to riot, destroy and sadly kill. All the financial, military support that these countries have received from USA and Canada(and lets not forget our soldiers that were killed or maimed) in trying to help them. This is the thanks we receive?Is there any other religion that goes to these extremes because they feel " insulted" ? Maybe we should just not do anything for them anymore. Let them kill each other and go back to the desert on their camels and live in the dark ages (which will happen when/if oil runs out). I am thoroughly disqusted that people that have been helped could turn and do these things in the name of religion. And for the record...I have been to many Mid East countries

Noted writer Hajra Masroor passes away: 

A renowned writer and author of several Urdu books and short stories, Hajra Masroor, passed away on Saturday 15th September 2012 morning in Karachi. She was 82.

Hajra Masroor’s death a great loss for Urdu literature



LITERATURE in Pakistan is a lot poorer after the death of Hajra Masroor. However, the veteran short-story writer has left an impressive body of work that will continue to influence future generations of Urdu writers. Born into a Lucknow family with literary tastes, Hajra Masroor was a versatile writer who worked in various media. She began publishing her short stories before Partition, with her first story published when she was only 16. Together with her equally gifted sister, writer Khadija Mastoor, she also recorded stories for All India Radio before Partition. To their credit, both sisters rose quite quickly on the subcontinent’s literary horizon, which at the time also featured major women writers such as Qurratulain Hyder and Ismat Chughtai. Hajra Masroor also worked for a time with the women’s wing of the Muslim League. After migrating to Pakistan, Hajra Masroor co-edited the literary journal Nuqoosh with Ahmad Nadeem Qasimi. However, the publication would court trouble from the authorities of the time due to its progressive leanings. Demonstrating her versatility, the writer also wrote the story and dialogue of a film Aakhri Station, which was shot in East Pakistan.

The sad demise of renowned fiction writer Hajra Masroor has caused a great loss to Urdu literature as she was amongst a very few writers who had played a dynamic role for the cause of progressive and enlightened literature in this sub-continent.

Prominent writers and representatives of Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Musanifeen (Progressive Writers Association) have expressed their deep shock and grief over the sad demise of Hajira Masroor.

Dr Muhammad Ali Siddiqui (Ariel), Saleem Raz, Dr Jamal Naqvi and Dr Mazhar Haider observed that Hajira’s works were a great asset for Urdu literature, as she and her elder sister Khadeeja Masroor both proved to be revolutionary writers with their immense contributions in progressive literature.

Prominent poet Ahmed Omar Shareef pointed out that Hajira Masroor was considered to be a giant of Urdu literature like Ismat Chughtai who had rejected the so-called social taboos in her stories, depicting the odd and negative values prevalent in society. Hajira’s stories also proved to be a rejection of so-called norms and social taboos exploiting women, he said.

Shareef highlighted that the whole family of Hajira Masroor served the cause of literature. Her younger brother Khalid Ahmed, a writer, brought out a literary magazine called “Bayaz”, whereas her elder sister Khadija Masroor came up with novels and short stories.

Noted short story writer and poetess Musarat Afza Roohi notes that both Hajira and her sister Khadija have enriched the Urdu literature and their juniors, especially female writers, used to follow the two sisters (Khadija, Hajira) and other contemporaries like Qura’atulain Haider and Asmat Chughtai.

Roohi says that she herself had started writing while following the same role models. When the stories by Hajira Masroor got published in famous Urdu monthlies such as “Naqoosh” and “Funoon”, they gained much ground among the students of Urdu literature and many girls came forward to write stories while following the trends set by Hajir Masroor, Roohi commented.

Roohi pointed out that Hajira Masroor had a command over writing stories on contradictory values of society and the so-called ethical values set by a male-dominated setup as well as other social and political issues. Her bold style of writing was acknowledged by all her contemporary writers as she boldly exposed the negative postures of this society, Roohi concluded.

In one of her writings, Hajira has described the details of her meeting with Manto. She writes that she and her sister were well familiar with the Manto’s writings but they had never met him. Hajira writes that it was her desire to see the great writer (Manto) but it seemed hard to meet him. Once, when she (Hajira) was attending a meeting she came to know that Manto was also coming at the meeting that was held in Lahore. Interestingly, there was no one to tell her about the arrival of Manto and then she inquired about Manto from a man sitting in front of her. The man smiled, but did not make any positive comments about Manto. Later, when Manto’s name was called from the dais, the same man stood up and assumed the seat of the chief guest. It was only then when she came to know that the same man was Manto, but he did not disclose his identity to her owing to his modesty, Hajra concluded.

According to a senior journalist and writer, Hajira Masroor was a writer who patronized the young writers in terms of promotion of healthy literature as well as expression and creativity.

The journalist said that she used to attend meetings of young writers in Lahore and Karachi and read very useful papers on literature and criticism. She was highly acclaimed by critics, writers and students of Urdu literature. She had written script of an Urdu movie titled “Aakhri Station” that was termed an excellent work. She also gave short stories collections, titled: “Hai Allah”, “Chori Chupay”, “Chand Ke Doosri Taraf”, “Tisri Manzil”, “Andhere Ujale”, and “Woh Log”.

Hajira Masroor was married to renowned journalist Ahmed Ali Khan, her elder sister Khadija Mastoor was married to another prominent journalist Zaheer Baba and her third sister too married famous journalist Hasan Abidi. Renowned writer and poet Ahmed Nadeem Qasimi, who himself joined progressive writers movement, had encouraged the two writers of their time and played an important part in managing the marriages of the three sisters.

Also Pakistan – IV

Nadeem F. Paracha | 9th August, 2012

And so we move on with our series of ‘Also Pakistan’. Travelling from Also Pakistan, zigzagging acrossAlso Pakistan-II and Also Pakistan-III we finally conclude with this final feature in the series.

It was an effort that with the help of painstakingly researched and collected images, tried to capture a Pakistan that now seems like a different planet compared to what it has been ever since the 1980s.

A strange, alien place that was also called Pakistan.

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A 1955 bottle of Pakola. Every Pakistani knows about Pakola Ice-Cream Soda. The bright green coloured soft-drink that is also hailed (unofficially, though) to be ‘Pakistan’s national soft-drink.’

But for the first few years Pakola struggled to find a market for itself that was packed with popular soft-drinks such as Coca-Cola, 7Up and Bubble-Up.

Then in 1955 it even had to print the words ‘Non-Alcoholic’ on its bottles because thanks to its striking colour, some stores (in Karachi) actually began storing it alongside their stock of alcoholic beverages!

By the 1970s however, Pakola finally established itself as a popular soft-drink.

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The charismatic Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of the popular US President, J. F. Kennedy, visited Pakistan in 1962. Here she is seen riding in an open-top limo with the then ruler of Pakistan, Ayub Khan, in the Saddar area of Karachi jam-packed by young men and women who had gathered on both sides of the road to greet her.

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Crowds gather at a runaway at the Karachi Airport to witness a ‘flying parade’ and joint military exercises of American and Pakistani armed forces (1953).

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A modern ‘rail car’ made in Pakistan with the collaboration of Japanese engineers parked at the Lahore Railway Station in 1964. Popular with travellers wanting to move rapidly between cities, the cars were commissioned out of service in the 1980s.

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The iconic Mausoleum of Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, under construction in Karachi. This picture was taken in 1965. The imposing structure was finally completed almost five years later.

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A 1967 image of the American Embassy in Karachi. It was one of the most recognisable buildings in Karachi’s Abdullah Haroon Road area.

Built in 1958, the Embassy, apart from handling the visa issuing operations, also had a large library.

As can be seen in the picture, it hardly had any barriers or security and its doors were open to all.

However, from the late 1980s onwards, when Islamist violence began to rise within Pakistan, the Embassy was fortified by a tall wall.

Later, especially after the tragic 9/11 event and after the building faced at least three terror attacks in the 2000s, the walls were thickened, barriers placed and security tightened.

The library that was hugely popular with Karachi’s school and collage students was closed and the visa section was moved to Islamabad.

In 2011, the building was abandoned and the Embassy was moved to a different location in Karachi. The building still stands, though.

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A scene of a snow-covered street in Quetta (1968). The street, called Layton Road, today has lost almost all of the beautiful old trees that can be seen in the picture.

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The first pages of a detailed book written by a professional travel writer from the United States. The book was published in early 1962 – a time when various American airlines and travel writers were heavily promoting Pakistan as a tourist destination.

The image is that of Karachi’s Zoological Garden that was then called the Gandhi Garden.

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A 1963 brochure printed by the government of Pakistan. The influx of western tourists arriving in the country had risen by the time this brochure was published. It contained maps and names of famous tourist spots, beaches, mountain resorts, hotels, nightclubs and bars in the country (both in West and former East Pakistan).

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A 1966 Pakistani press ad announcing the launch of famous Australian car, Valiant, in Pakistan. It was one of the first cars to be assembled in Pakistan. –Picture courtesy DAWN.

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Girls taking part in a swimming competition at a sports complex in Karachi in 1970.

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VHS cover of Pakistan’s first horror and ‘X-rated’ film, Zinda Laash (The Living Dead). Released in 1967, the film was a huge hit in an era when the Pakistan’s film industry was dishing out an average of 50 films a year, most of them romantic fantasies.

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This poster attacking the ‘imperialist grip of the American CIA’ over various ‘third world countries’ (including Pakistan) began appearing on the walls of colleges and universities of Karachi and Lahore in 1968. The poster was originally designed in South America but was reproduced in Pakistan by radical leftist student groups during their movement against the Ayub Khan dictatorship (1968-69). –Poster courtesy Rashid Chaudhry.

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Students belonging to the left-wing National Students Federation campaign during a student union elections at the Karachi University in 1969. –Picture courtesy: Tarek Fateh.

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The first men on the moon land in Pakistan. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (the first men to land on the moon), arrived in Karachi in early 1970 during their tour of South Asia. Here they are seen being greeted by an enthusiastic crowd just outside the Karachi Airport. –Picture courtesy LIFE.

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A young Pakistani woman sitting on her motorbike in the Soldier Bazzar area of Karachi (1969). –Picture courtesy Zarmeena P.

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The December 1971 cover of Time magazine. The main story detailed the breaking away of former East Pakistan (after a bloody civil war with the West Pakistan army) . The picture is that of a Bengali militant celebrating the defeat of the West Pakistan military.

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An intriguing June 1971 photograph of a West Pakistani soldier searching an East Pakistani Bengali in Dhaka (the former capital of East Pakistan).  –Picture courtesy LIFE.

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Two displaced and poverty-stricken children stand in an open field surrounded by used artillery shells in a village in former war-torn East Pakistan (1971).

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A stamp celebrating Pakistan’s victory in the 1971 Hockey World Cup held in Barcelona, Spain.

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A serene image of Peshawar’s famous ‘Kisa Kahani Bazaar’ (Storytellers’ Market) in 1972. A culturally rich and ancient marketplace, the area has continuously come under terrorist attacks by Islamist militants ever since the early 2000s.

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A college student poses in front of a street in Quetta in 1972.

Today, Quetta is plagued by brutal violence involving Sunni sectarian outfits, Baloch nationalist groups and the Pakistan military.

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A 1972 picture showing European visitors and local Christians seen during a passing out ceremony at a Catholic school in Rawalpindi. –Picture courtesy John Meacham.

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A young 8-year-old Shahrukh Khan (current Bollywood star) visited Pakistan with his family (as a tourist) in 1973. Here he is seen during his family’s visit to Swat. –Picture courtesy Luqman Ghauri.

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A 1974 photograph showing the inside of a ‘hashish house’ in Quetta.

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A poster of 1973 film ‘Operation Pakistan.’ A B-grade film made by a Greek director, the film was released in Pakistan in 1973. It is about the adventures of an FBI agent who tracks down hashish smugglers in Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. The characters of Pakistanis (seen below left) were all played by amateur Pakistani actors. The film was a box-office flop.

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An early 1970s press ad of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). PIA was considered to be one of the ten best airlines in the world between 1962 and 1980.

It constantly scored high for having ‘best in-flight entertainment,’ business class, ‘most convenient connections’, ‘delicious cuisine’ and ‘a wide selection of wine, whiskeys and beer.’

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A 1973 press ad of the famous Hotel Midway House in Karachi. The hotel was owned and run by PIA. It was located near the Karachi Airport and was popular with tourists and locals alike for its barbeque restaurant and nightclub. It was eventually closed down in the mid-1980s.

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A 1974 T-Shirt.

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Tourism in Pakistan grew two-fold in the 1970s. This special stamp was issued
by the country’s Ministry of Tourism in 1975.

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A Swiss tourist gets his car’s tank filled at a gas station on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (1974).

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A European tourist with two students of the Peshawar University in an old street of Peshawar (1974).

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A European tourist family outside a rest house in Murree, 1974.

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Tourists enjoy a buggy ride outside Peshawar’s Hotel Intercontinental (1975).

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Pakistani actress and model, Bindia, at a cultural festival in Karachi (1975).

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Famous revolutionary poet, late Habib Jalib, enjoys a drink with veteran journalist, late Khalid Hassan, and friends at a restaurant in Karachi in 1975.

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Western tourists jam with a Pakistani tabla player in Karachi (1975).

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Pakistani test cricketers Sikandar Bakht and Javed Miandad in 1976.

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A 1978 French release of an album by famous Pakistani Qawali group, the Sabri Brothers.

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Cover of a live album by popular Indian ghazal duo, Jagjit and Chitra. The album was recording during one of the many live concerts the duo played during their tour of Pakistan in 1978.

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Altaf Gohar and Khalid Hassan with Noble Prize winning Pakistani scientist, Dr. Abdus Salam (centre) in the late 1970s.

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1977 cover of famous Pakistani Urdu magazine, Dhanak. Radical in its aesthetics, the magazine was hugely popular with young men and women. It covered fashion trends, ran film reviews and also had left-leaning articles on politics.

A number of noted progressive Urdu intellectuals such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Munir Niazi, Mumtaz Mufti, etc., wrote regularly for Dhanak.

It was edited and published by Sarwar Sukhera. In 1979 it became the first publication to be directly clamped down by the reactionary Ziaul Haq dictatorship that took over power through a military coup in July 1977.

Deemed as ‘anti-Islam’ by the Zia regime, Dhanak offices were attacked by Jamat-e-Islami goons and Sarwar was arrested for committing ‘treason’.

Sarwar went into exile after the magazine was shut down. –Picture courtesy: Laleen Khan.

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A promotional shot of famous PTV play, Uncle Urfi (1975). It was one of the first PTV serials that is said to have ‘made roads empty of cars and people’ during the time of its telecast (8 PM every Saturday).

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A group of European tourists travelling and enjoying a cup of tea on a Pakistani train, 1976.

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A German tourist outside a ‘ hashish shop’ in the tribal areas of former NWFP
(now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), 1976.

With the state of Pakistan having little influence in such areas, shops selling
hashish sprang up when young western tourists began to pour into Pakistan
from Afghanistan from the late 1960s onwards. (See also ‘Hippie Trail’ in
Also-Pakistan I, II and III).

Today however, these areas are strictly off-limits not only to foreigners but
also Pakistanis due to the war between Islamist insurgents and the Pakistan
military.

The fate of the shops is unknown. -Picture courtesy Dan Atkinson

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A special stamp released by the government of Pakistan to mark the centenary
of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Karachi (1978).

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Before the great Janagir Khan and Jansher Khan in squash there was Qamar Zaman. Here he is seen arguing with the umpire while on his way to beat the then No: 1, the Australian, Jeff Hunt, during a final played in Karachi in 1976.

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An American Christian evangelist addressing Pakistani Christians and converts in a village near Abbotabad in 1977. -Picture courtesy Williamson

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Pakistani star batsman, Javed Miandad, smashes the stumps after being given
out LBW in a test match against India (1979).

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Imran Khan was one of the first Pakistani cricketers to appear in press ads and
TV commercials. Here he is seen with Indian batsman, Sunil Gavaskar, in a
1979 ad for Indian soft-drink, Thumbs-up.

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Pakistan Peoples Party supporters mourn and pray just outside the grounds
(in Rawalpindi) where PPP Chairman and former Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto, was hanged by the Ziaul Haq dictatorship in April 1979. This picture
was taken in October 1979.

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Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com

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The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.