I carried a few hours futile search for the video/image that showed Musharraf smoking a cigarette and firing a pistol. The video flashed through the TV channels when he sacked Nawaz Sharif out in 1999 and I got reminded of it when I saw the following image in the newspapers today 
Women have got equal rights today 
…No? Mushy must be feeling proud about "Enlightened Moderation" now.
I always praised the government for introducing the National Internship Program.
But there is always another side of the picture. Let me share an email with you from one of the internees who’s working under this program
" Salam to all..
I am XXX having job under national internship program. Me and my rest of fellows are waiting for our salaries since 4 months…. I belong to a poor family. If any one can approach to higher authorities of nip,, plzz plzz help me and all alike me in getting our salaries…
what sould i do .. Tell me.. where sould i go …. i am very anxious…
hamara kya kasur hai akhir,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,!!!!!!!!!
I have just copied and pasted this email without changing even a single word(as you could see from the grammatical mistakes etc.) except the sender’s name to avoid getting him/her into any further trouble.
Please KESC, WAPDA and all other giants who are responsible for blessing us with this luxury called ‘electricty’; accept warmest thanks from the common Pakistani people especially karachites for making their life beautiful. They work all day like dogs and get back home to see darkness welcoming them and making them realize that their future is similarly dark!
If anyone is interested to know the story behind this cartoon, read ‘Your Plans for Black Summer’
Image Credit: Jang 27th Feb Edition
I remember my english teacher in 9th grade "Ma’am Ajmal Noorani" saying "Our people are great sermonizers" and by that she meant that we talk a lot but do very little. I had fully agreed with her at that time and still agree with her. Some of my close friends must have heard me quoting this at different times and today I have felt a need to quote it again.
Lately I have been hearing some cynics pointing fingers on Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s personality. I’m not a die-hard PPP supporter (in fact currently I’m supporting none) but still recognize the sacrifice that Bhutto family has given to glow the lights of democracy in Pakistan; and to raise the living standard of the poor and the deprived.
For all those who have issues with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari being made the Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party or who otherwise have issues with the Bhutto family playing an active role in the current political scene in Pakistan, I just have got one question:
"If you are a patriot from your heart and soul, are you ready to put the life of your father, brothers, yourself and for that matter your entire familt at stake; for the betterment of this country?"
If I ask this question to myself, an honest answer would be "No", because I simply do not have the courage to shoulder the coffins of my dearest ones, one after another. If your answer is the same then people like us have no right to give a judgement about those who actually have the courage to bring about a difference about no matter what it takes to bring it. We should rather support them or least let them do their job.
However, if being an Oxford/Harvard graduate with an option to live in London/Paris/Geneva, you are actually daring enough to stay and serve your country..your people, then you should definitely come in the forefront and prove yourself out. Now what it takes to come in the forefront may also be price you need to pay for it so be ready to pay it
"……Bhutto……. said her father’s parting words before his execution were, "You can walk away. You’re young. You can go to live in London or Paris or Geneva"
She told Sheehy she responded, "No, I have to keep up this mission of yours, of democracy."………." Full Article here
In the end, I would say whether you are an activist or one of those who prefer to stay in their own cocoon, if you are against innocent killings and want to know who the real culprits are then sign the on-line petition for UN investigation into the assassination of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto here
Throbbing headache, tightened facial muscles, clenched jaws, stiff muscles and severe pain in both my legs – this is what I felt the first night soon after I tried to sleep. From then onwards I was on painkillers for the next two days. I could hardly sleep the first night because when I close my eyes, all what I had just gone through starts playing on my mental screen. How E and I ran madly to save our life, how I attended several calls from family members and friends, received and replied to several texts, had IM chats with cousins, friends and those few lucky colleagues who had managed to reach home, blogged about my unforgettable experience here and while doing all this, I felt pretty normal.
However stress started engulfing me when at around 12:30 in night we decided to leave office as one of our colleagues had left an hour earlier and had reached home safely. So, the rest of us also decided to leave, however, there were just three people from my area including me and none with his/her own car. Since we decided to move in the form of a group so, we had no other option then to go to a friend’s/relatives’ place that happens to fall in that route which all the rest were taking. Finally, after a lot of discussion & debate, the entire girl gang decided to go to a friend’s place near Hassan Square. I informed my family members and a few friends and then loaded in three cars we moved rather rushed towards our destination. All the drivers had decided to drive at a high speed, not to stop anywhere else we might get killed, burnt alive or least our vehicles might get burnt while we get looted. The girl gang’s car was in the middle with the other two cars each ahead and behind ours to give us some security. I was reciting Ayat-ul-Kursi and was praying for everyone’s safety all the way.
Streets of Karachi were giving a horrible picture at that time and all we saw was a complete CARNAGE…. burnt vehicles, broken glasses spread everywhere and more than anything else the silence depicting terror. Suddenly, one of our cars disappeared and contacting them through cell phone, we found that their car’s tyre got punctured…heck….what a time to get a flat tyre! Neway the other car decided to move us till we reach our friend’s place. After we reached their, they again went back to join the group in the car with a flat tyre. After reaching A’s (our friend) place, the only thing that I was feeling bad about that I had come farther from my own home 
A and her family looked so welcoming. They actually gave us a separate apartment where we all 7 girls took shelter. It soon started looking as a girls’ dorm 
We were having chit chat, laughter sessions, political discussions, conflicts, debates but during all this while we were ready to hear a bad news any moment. As mentioned earlier, I was not able to sleep the first night as by the time I reached there, my stress level had started touching its peak and take the form of depression 
hence worsening my physical condition. I was missing home and more than anything else my darling mother. It was probably after 11 years that I was spending a night without her and the first ever night in 23 years of my life that I was spending without any of my family members with me.
Next day we all got up early even though each one of us was sleep deprived. We had a Punjabi style breakfast Then started coming news that was shaking our entire being after every short while. We could hear firing and people coming from outside telling that there are groups who are stoning outside on the main road right in front of our apartments. A group of those terrorists also tried to enter our building’s compound but was stopped by some of the residents.
My cell phone battery was about to die and I was out of credit as I had used almost all of it the previous day. All the cab services and everything else was completely shut and it was pretty disappointing to know that we’ll have to stay yet another day there. By next day i.e. Saturday, I had started getting severe fits of homesickness. I wanted to run away to my home but there was no sign of situation getting better. With every passing minute (yes I would say minute not hour because things were changing RAPIDLY) the law and order situation was deteriorating. My brother was also at Hyderabad and my mamoo and cousin B who had promised to come to pick me had realized that they did not have enough fuel in their car.…..all the gas stations was closed 
It was getting utterly depressing and we all were feeling sooo helpless. But I thank Almighty Allah, at around 8:30 Saturday evening, I got a call from mummy and she informed that my other mamoo who lives in Gulistan-e-Jauhar was coming to pick me. I was happy to go to some relative’s place yet sad on again moving even farther from my own place. After about an hour, I saw my maami standing in the living room and I ran towards her. She gave me a tight hug for good 1-2 minutes (seriously, I’m not exaggerating) 
I had packed all my stuff and we headed towards their home. The streets and roads were still a picture of terror. On our way, mammi told me that mummy was extremely worried for us both (me and bhai) and had bursted into tears over the phone talking to her that day. It was then that they decided to bring me to their place no matter how.
So, I spent the rest of my time there till bhai managed to escape from Hyderabad and picked me on his way back. Now when I have reached home, all these thoughts have started haunting my mind even more – whenever I try to sleep all what happened comes to my mind and shivers run down my spine. It has been more than a week now since I got that horrifying experience but still I’m afraid of commuting through those roads again. I don’t feel ashamed to accept that I’m scared because I have seen the entire situation with my eyes. I have even seen dead bodies lying on roads (that was in tv though) and I know I could have been one of those to have been killed mercilessly.
Alhamdulilah, I feel extremely lucky to have made a narrow escape from all what happened and keep thanking Him for saving my life. May now He(SWT) give me the courage to combat all these disturbing thoughts and get back to normal life again but the bad part is that I’m still getting disturbing dreams 
I was in the face of death today barely half an hour ago. Left my office and when reached near City School PAF Chapter….a gang of guys surrounded our bus and started stoning I was sitting right in front of the windscreen and just a minute ago I decided to hide myself behind drivers seat and wooooo…there came a large stone smashing the windscreen and while I was trying to understand what’s happening around shouting at my colleague E to get down….the entire bus emtied out…I had started reciting Kalima-e-Shadat….the only thing I was worrying about was not my own life but about my family especially my mother. Bhai had called when I was about to leave office and had warned me not to go through public bus…..heck….I listened to E and decided to go through public bus Neway before I could decide what to do E dragged me out of the bus and we started running in the opposite direction. We ran and ran and ran…….on footpath, over the bridge and even on main roads….while cars kept honking and while on our way back we were warning everyone…"Aagey maat jaaye…..aagey pathrao horaha hai" We had turned so pale…..my mouth turned as dry as the desert. After about 15 mins of constant running we managed to reach office and yo….called home…got a scolding which now I feel I truly deserved…it was me who decided to stay a little late…..this software quality assurance is going to leave me nowhere
Bhai’s also out of Karachi stuck b/w Karachi and Hyderabad. Mummy darling all alone at home….thanks to the blessing Internet…..managed to talk to a lot of people and inform them that I’m safe Alhamdulilah. Waiting for some food…I’m feeling soooooo hungry…my back’s hurting badly….MOOV plz…neone?
Ohh yayy!! khana here…E and some other colleagues just went to neighbours and cooked food for us…me going…tata
While i decided to choose a black banner to mourn over what’s happening in Karachi…a fellow blogger Ejaz Asi came with a rather interesting way to show love for our city. He has designed some very nice and colorful images that u can find here.
These r just two of them..there a few more as well. Put them on ur blogs and websites to show and promote ur love for Karachi. I’v already chosen one for mine and u cud see it on my bloggy.
I think I do not need to mention what happened in Karachi today but being a Karachite and being a citizen of Pakistan….I want to voice my feelings out as i get very disturbed by such situations….people are lying dead on the roads, the city is echoing with heavy firing, properties r being set ablaze and we sit helpless …i don’t know for how long is this wrangling going to continue and how many more lives is it going to claim but all i can say is that may Allah(SWT) save and guide us all. May He safeguard my city and my country.
Right now I can’t put down my feelings into words but to show my grief, i put this black banner in my post…i also tried changing the color of my blog template to black but sumhow failed to….neway the banner is here because i feel it was one of the darkest days in the history of Karachi
and once again so many innocent people lose their lives while the wrangling between the government and the terrorists continues…I wonder what are the intelligence agencies doing….y aren’t they *intelligent* enough to provide early warnings?
Suicide Bomb Blast in Charsadda
May Allah Rest the Soul of all the Shuha’da in Peace!
Image Credits: http://geo.tv/important_events/charsada_blast/urdu_news.asp
Opened up the post editor to post sumthing about the IEEE-ACM seminar that we had at our college today but a news item related to the shootings in Virginia Tech university caught m eye…so decided to post on it first.
This piece of news "Va. Tech shooter was laughed at" has made me think that y do we make fun of eachother…we all know that noone is perfect and we have all got certain weaknesses..even then y do we hurt people by picking on their weakpoints and invite tragedies like this one!
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