Baithak Desi Apr 13: Anjum Niaz, Hussain Haqqani, Ardeshir and Asghar Khan, Suddle in Karachi, Ghazi Salahuddin, Zia Mohyuddin, Nadeem Paracha, Thatta
Do you know what Hussain Haqqani and Rehman Malik did the minute they became VIPs? Both the gentlemen reportedly descended on the basement of the NAB (National Accountability Bureau) in Islamabad and personally supervised the destruction of all the records dripping with evidence against them and their benefactor Zardari. They took the law of the land in their own hands. So now for Zardari to pontificate that CJP has become “political” is an oxymoron when he himself is not going strictly by the book. Anjum Niaz
WASHINGTON: The Government of Pakistan has forwarded the name of Husain Haqqani as the country’s new ambassador to the United States. The request or the agreement sent to the host government will take a few weeks to be processed. Haqqani will replace Maj Gen (r) Mahmud Ali Durrani, who will be completing his two-year contract this summer. He is being appointed national security adviser with the rank of federal minister at the completion of his contract. Currently, he is in Pakistan but is expected to return to his post in a few days. Haqqani, who has been working as director of the Centre for International Relations at Boston University, has been in the US for six years. Author of a widely read book on Pakistan and a regular contributor to US, Pakistani, Indian and Gulf newspapers, he is a prolific writer and lecturer. This will not be his first diplomatic assignment, having served as ambassador to Sri Lanka during Nawaz Sharif’s government. Khalid Hasan
Glib Hussain Haqqani has been described by some as a muslim neoconzix and has reportedly been close to Daniel Pipes and AEI. If true, the two reports above do not make for positive indicators of the new administration.
Early in 1970, after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had formed his PPP and was readying himself for the coming elections, he met up with that man of integrity who has always spoken the truth (even if taken to task for so doing), Air Marshal Asghar Khan, who was about to form his own political party. To quote from his book We’ve Learnt Nothing from History (OUP 2005): “…Bhutto had asked me to join the Pakistan People’s Party. We had two long discussions and I had tried to learn something about his political philosophy and economic programme…. He told me that he was sure that if I joined hands with him, and if we both set off from Karachi, he to Dadu and Larkana, and I to Hyderabad and Nawabshah, meeting at Sukkur, and then again forking out in different directions and meeting at Multan, then to Lahore and so on, by the time we reached Rawalpindi, Yahya Khan would be at the railway station to receive us. ‘We can then rule together,’ he had said. “I had asked what his programme would be after he had been installed in power. He had laughed at this enquiry and replied, ‘The programme is to rule. The people are stupid and I know how to fool them. I will have the danda (stick) in my hand and no one will be able to remove us for 20 years.’ I was grateful to him for a frank expression of his views and made up my mind that our paths would be different.” Ardeshir Cowasjee quoting Asghar Khan on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
ISLAMABAD: Asif Ali Zardari has picked up brave and reputed but controversial Dr Shoaib Suddle as the new Sindh IG Police, a decision that may rock the ongoing PPP-MQM reconciliatory moves. But it clearly conveys a bold message to all and sundry that politics and terrorism would be dealt with separately as far as the province is concerned. Having his PhD in White Collar Criminology from the University of Wales, Cardiff, Suddle is such a go-getter that he had reduced the monthly killings of 350 in June 1995 to nil in January 1996. He was generally appreciated for cleansing Karachi in 1995-96 while operating under the then interior minister General Naseerullah Babar but the MQM had accused the two of being involved in what the party believes "extra-judicial" killings of its workers. In this background, the Muttahida would not welcome this appointment. Suddle to go after mafias in Karachi - Ansar Abbasi
What happened in Karachi on April 9 had its intimations of the unforgettable tragedy of May 12, 2007. A number of persons were burnt alive in a building in which many lawyers had their offices. An element of conspiracy to undermine the movement of the lawyers was detected by many observers. However, the intensive coverage of the disgrace that Sher Afgan had to suffer, in spite of very brave attempts by Aitzaz Ahsan and some other leaders of the fraternity to protect him, became an overwhelming issue and there were endless discussions of the incident on the media. My lament is that on the same day -- Tuesday -- something had happened in Karachi that should have shaken us more deeply and should have generated more serious discussions. What was it? Well, even the print media failed to put it prominently on its front pages. A factory worker, Jagdesh Kumar, was reported to have beaten to death by his co-workers in a leather factory. The allegation was that he had made some blasphemous remarks. Incidentally, this is how it has generally been. As a media person, I agonise every day over the poor coverage of human interest stories that certify the actual state of our society. On the face of it, this neglect of stories of real people and the lives they lead is undermining our ability to confront our socio-economic challenges. We are becoming afraid of exploring the intolerance and injustice that permeates the lower levels of our society. Take the recent example of the report of stoning to death of a couple in the tribal area. Again, it was not even reported across the media and only social and human rights activist were left to express their outrage. The news was kept from the TV talk shows and no official investigations were launched. Similarly, I felt deeply touched by an unusually graphic account of the suicide of a young man in Islamabad who left a detailed note that was titled: 'Watan ki mitti gawah rehna'. Here was an opportunity to do any number of investigative stories on social conditions that are destroying sensitive young people. Ghazi Salahuddin
My father who taught English most of his life was a part time dramatist and a part-time musicologist. Normally, he talked to me in Punjabi except when there were guests in the house. Then he addressed me in Urdu and expected me to answer in that language. He could, with great ease, converse with me in English but he never did, for he firmly believed that I should learn my own language before I took on another. I mention this only because during my recent talk to the Shakespeare Association of Pakistan on "What does Shakespeare mean to me?" I said that when I was a growing lad my father sometimes took me along on his evening walks. We walked on dusty tracks that stretched for miles beyond our solitary house in Model Town. We would walk in silence and then, flicking a leaf or a stone with his walking stick, my father would intone loudly. "O, what a rogue am I?" Why he omitted ..:"and pleasant slave", I do not know. So I merrily went everywhere exclaiming "O what a rogue am I?", imagining a rogue to be an old man with a walking stick. You could say this was my first tentative introduction to Shakespeare. The lady who wrote a review of the event in a national newspaper was full of praise for my presentation, but did not quite get the drift of my introduction. Otherwise, she would not have written that my father, "who insisted that his children speak with him in English, quoted profoundly from Shakespeare." Oh what a rogue am I - Zia Mohyuddin
Not for the humour impaired
Mulla Omar: The complete biography by Rabid Meer
Written by Maro TV’s Rabid Meer, we find out in the book that Mulla Omar, the one-eyed leader of the Taliban, was once known as The Maalbero Man, before he quit smoking. After quitting he met another famous quitter, Hunaid Jam Shed, and both decided to embrace fundamentalism and fight against the evils of communism, smoking and shaving.
Financed by the great General Ramid Bull, Omar settled in the liberal and peaceful Scandinavian country of Afghanistan and made
a living growing the miraculous medicinal plant, poppy, to help cure people of the obscene habits of smoking and shaving. But in the process Omar lost an eye. His supporters maintain this happened when a reluctant quitter, allegedly Mel Gibson, poked a burning cross in one of Omar’s eyes, but others believe he lost the eye when he winked at the popular Lollywood karate heroine, Nargis, and she landed a swift, sharp kung-fu kick on his right eye.
by Nadeem F Paracha
I remember visiting Thatta’s Shahjehan mosque as a child and it fired up my imagination. However, as adulthood dawned I appreciated its historical and architectural significance even more. The 361-year-old mosque is an outstanding example of Mughal architecture in Pakistan. Shahjehan ordered its construction upon ascending the throne as emperor to commemorate his visit to Thatta while he was still a prince, according to the incredibly informative book Development of Mosque Architecture in Pakistan, published by Lok Virsa in 1991 and written by Dr Ahmad Nabi Khan. Perhaps its most stunning aspect is the exquisite tile work, which reminds one of the graceful mosques of northern Afghanistan and Iran. So splendid is the tile-work that R.E.M Wheeler, in his Five Thousand Years of Pakistan, has written that “though somewhat poor in quality than the Dabgir (Dabgaran) mosque, the building presents the most complete surviving display of Persian tile work executed on the soil of Pakistan.” The mosque was started in 1644 and completed in 1647, financed by the royal treasury. There is a little confusion about its total cost, as according to the board placed inside the mosque, the cost came to around Rs900,000 at that time, while Dr Khan claims it cost Rs600,000. Perhaps the current mosque authorities have adjusted the final cost for inflation.
WASHINGTON: The Government of Pakistan has forwarded the name of Husain Haqqani as the country’s new ambassador to the United States. The request or the agreement sent to the host government will take a few weeks to be processed. Haqqani will replace Maj Gen (r) Mahmud Ali Durrani, who will be completing his two-year contract this summer. He is being appointed national security adviser with the rank of federal minister at the completion of his contract. Currently, he is in Pakistan but is expected to return to his post in a few days. Haqqani, who has been working as director of the Centre for International Relations at Boston University, has been in the US for six years. Author of a widely read book on Pakistan and a regular contributor to US, Pakistani, Indian and Gulf newspapers, he is a prolific writer and lecturer. This will not be his first diplomatic assignment, having served as ambassador to Sri Lanka during Nawaz Sharif’s government. Khalid Hasan
Glib Hussain Haqqani has been described by some as a muslim neoconzix and has reportedly been close to Daniel Pipes and AEI. If true, the two reports above do not make for positive indicators of the new administration.
Early in 1970, after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had formed his PPP and was readying himself for the coming elections, he met up with that man of integrity who has always spoken the truth (even if taken to task for so doing), Air Marshal Asghar Khan, who was about to form his own political party. To quote from his book We’ve Learnt Nothing from History (OUP 2005): “…Bhutto had asked me to join the Pakistan People’s Party. We had two long discussions and I had tried to learn something about his political philosophy and economic programme…. He told me that he was sure that if I joined hands with him, and if we both set off from Karachi, he to Dadu and Larkana, and I to Hyderabad and Nawabshah, meeting at Sukkur, and then again forking out in different directions and meeting at Multan, then to Lahore and so on, by the time we reached Rawalpindi, Yahya Khan would be at the railway station to receive us. ‘We can then rule together,’ he had said. “I had asked what his programme would be after he had been installed in power. He had laughed at this enquiry and replied, ‘The programme is to rule. The people are stupid and I know how to fool them. I will have the danda (stick) in my hand and no one will be able to remove us for 20 years.’ I was grateful to him for a frank expression of his views and made up my mind that our paths would be different.” Ardeshir Cowasjee quoting Asghar Khan on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
ISLAMABAD: Asif Ali Zardari has picked up brave and reputed but controversial Dr Shoaib Suddle as the new Sindh IG Police, a decision that may rock the ongoing PPP-MQM reconciliatory moves. But it clearly conveys a bold message to all and sundry that politics and terrorism would be dealt with separately as far as the province is concerned. Having his PhD in White Collar Criminology from the University of Wales, Cardiff, Suddle is such a go-getter that he had reduced the monthly killings of 350 in June 1995 to nil in January 1996. He was generally appreciated for cleansing Karachi in 1995-96 while operating under the then interior minister General Naseerullah Babar but the MQM had accused the two of being involved in what the party believes "extra-judicial" killings of its workers. In this background, the Muttahida would not welcome this appointment. Suddle to go after mafias in Karachi - Ansar Abbasi
What happened in Karachi on April 9 had its intimations of the unforgettable tragedy of May 12, 2007. A number of persons were burnt alive in a building in which many lawyers had their offices. An element of conspiracy to undermine the movement of the lawyers was detected by many observers. However, the intensive coverage of the disgrace that Sher Afgan had to suffer, in spite of very brave attempts by Aitzaz Ahsan and some other leaders of the fraternity to protect him, became an overwhelming issue and there were endless discussions of the incident on the media. My lament is that on the same day -- Tuesday -- something had happened in Karachi that should have shaken us more deeply and should have generated more serious discussions. What was it? Well, even the print media failed to put it prominently on its front pages. A factory worker, Jagdesh Kumar, was reported to have beaten to death by his co-workers in a leather factory. The allegation was that he had made some blasphemous remarks. Incidentally, this is how it has generally been. As a media person, I agonise every day over the poor coverage of human interest stories that certify the actual state of our society. On the face of it, this neglect of stories of real people and the lives they lead is undermining our ability to confront our socio-economic challenges. We are becoming afraid of exploring the intolerance and injustice that permeates the lower levels of our society. Take the recent example of the report of stoning to death of a couple in the tribal area. Again, it was not even reported across the media and only social and human rights activist were left to express their outrage. The news was kept from the TV talk shows and no official investigations were launched. Similarly, I felt deeply touched by an unusually graphic account of the suicide of a young man in Islamabad who left a detailed note that was titled: 'Watan ki mitti gawah rehna'. Here was an opportunity to do any number of investigative stories on social conditions that are destroying sensitive young people. Ghazi Salahuddin
My father who taught English most of his life was a part time dramatist and a part-time musicologist. Normally, he talked to me in Punjabi except when there were guests in the house. Then he addressed me in Urdu and expected me to answer in that language. He could, with great ease, converse with me in English but he never did, for he firmly believed that I should learn my own language before I took on another. I mention this only because during my recent talk to the Shakespeare Association of Pakistan on "What does Shakespeare mean to me?" I said that when I was a growing lad my father sometimes took me along on his evening walks. We walked on dusty tracks that stretched for miles beyond our solitary house in Model Town. We would walk in silence and then, flicking a leaf or a stone with his walking stick, my father would intone loudly. "O, what a rogue am I?" Why he omitted ..:"and pleasant slave", I do not know. So I merrily went everywhere exclaiming "O what a rogue am I?", imagining a rogue to be an old man with a walking stick. You could say this was my first tentative introduction to Shakespeare. The lady who wrote a review of the event in a national newspaper was full of praise for my presentation, but did not quite get the drift of my introduction. Otherwise, she would not have written that my father, "who insisted that his children speak with him in English, quoted profoundly from Shakespeare." Oh what a rogue am I - Zia Mohyuddin
Not for the humour impaired
Mulla Omar: The complete biography by Rabid Meer
Written by Maro TV’s Rabid Meer, we find out in the book that Mulla Omar, the one-eyed leader of the Taliban, was once known as The Maalbero Man, before he quit smoking. After quitting he met another famous quitter, Hunaid Jam Shed, and both decided to embrace fundamentalism and fight against the evils of communism, smoking and shaving.
Financed by the great General Ramid Bull, Omar settled in the liberal and peaceful Scandinavian country of Afghanistan and made
a living growing the miraculous medicinal plant, poppy, to help cure people of the obscene habits of smoking and shaving. But in the process Omar lost an eye. His supporters maintain this happened when a reluctant quitter, allegedly Mel Gibson, poked a burning cross in one of Omar’s eyes, but others believe he lost the eye when he winked at the popular Lollywood karate heroine, Nargis, and she landed a swift, sharp kung-fu kick on his right eye.by Nadeem F Paracha
PHOTO FEATURE: The Jewel of the Thatta
Text by Q.A.M. and photographs by ArsalanI remember visiting Thatta’s Shahjehan mosque as a child and it fired up my imagination. However, as adulthood dawned I appreciated its historical and architectural significance even more. The 361-year-old mosque is an outstanding example of Mughal architecture in Pakistan. Shahjehan ordered its construction upon ascending the throne as emperor to commemorate his visit to Thatta while he was still a prince, according to the incredibly informative book Development of Mosque Architecture in Pakistan, published by Lok Virsa in 1991 and written by Dr Ahmad Nabi Khan. Perhaps its most stunning aspect is the exquisite tile work, which reminds one of the graceful mosques of northern Afghanistan and Iran. So splendid is the tile-work that R.E.M Wheeler, in his Five Thousand Years of Pakistan, has written that “though somewhat poor in quality than the Dabgir (Dabgaran) mosque, the building presents the most complete surviving display of Persian tile work executed on the soil of Pakistan.” The mosque was started in 1644 and completed in 1647, financed by the royal treasury. There is a little confusion about its total cost, as according to the board placed inside the mosque, the cost came to around Rs900,000 at that time, while Dr Khan claims it cost Rs600,000. Perhaps the current mosque authorities have adjusted the final cost for inflation.
posted by temporal at 4/14/2008
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