Discussing and analyzing the socio-economic, political and artistic cross-currents engulfing the kaleidoscope of Pakistan.noreply@blogger.com (undhadhun)Fri, 1 Nov 2024 16:46:13 +0500Blogger http://www.blogger.com90125http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/en-ushttp://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2013/05/imran-khan-and-three-kids-at-rally.htmlThu, 9 May 2013 19:55:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-4565502100336146471 It was sometime in 2009.  We were criss-crossing around a vast Lahore metropolis visiting PTI camps put up to begin the party membership drive.  Khan wanted to personally meet the party workers and offers words of encouragement.  Several hours later, only half the camp visits were done and another half still left to go.  It was nearing midnight.  Right after our lone 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2012/10/shaheed-bhagat-singh.htmlThu, 4 Oct 2012 22:36:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-2347380693757526006 “The aim of life is no more to control the mind, but to develop it harmoniously; not to achieve salvation here after, but to make the best use of it here below; and not to realise truth, beauty and good only in contemplation, but also in the actual experience of daily life; social progress depends not upon the ennoblement of the few but on the enrichment of democracy; universal brotherhood can 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2012/02/water-source-for-prices.htmlFri, 24 Feb 2012 23:59:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-4093939105476396161 It's a little strange hearing folks from different countries citing drought as a reason for poor crops or lack of output.  It highlights the benefits Pakistani farmers have in many cases with the irrigation system.  When I was farming, I'd worry about the tube well breaking down and the lack of electricity exacerbated the poor corn crops of 2011, but by and large, the availability of 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2012/02/hazaras-and-turis-australia-bound.htmlFri, 17 Feb 2012 19:15:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-2120554738396353004 There are a lot of cab drivers from Kurram Agency in Dubai, specifically from Parachinar.  Being Turi Shia, they tend to be quite 'pro-Pakistan Army' as they've been at the receiving end of sectarian violence.  For them, the enemy and dangers won't go away after NATO leaves.  Their enemies are people who speak their own language, read their own Koran and pray in the same direction0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/08/power-crisis-reflects-how-traditional.htmlSat, 20 Aug 2011 12:17:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-8263694235999432944 The power crisis reflects how the traditional political forces have used up all the possibilities to delay the inevitable:  switching to hydro-based or locally generated options to generate electricity.  The economics has caught up with them.  The thirst for commissions through a preference to import oil will be punished come election time. 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/06/bol-review-and-thank-you-to-shoman.htmlMon, 27 Jun 2011 22:19:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-8678567285411477388Sometimes the prevalent brutality of reality subdues our senses for long enough to declare barbaric actions as legitimate.  Barbaric laws as legal necessities.  Allow this status quo to brew and grow for generations and centuries and it results in a stymied populace perpetually terrorizing itself through doctrinal teachings that classify and rank human beings.  Bol not only 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/06/hasan-dars-poet-i-never-knew.htmlMon, 27 Jun 2011 13:17:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-8951018706000108618I read about the passing of the poet Hasan Dars and am bewildered by the knowledge that I never came across him or his poetry before.  I wish I had read him when he was alive.  The sprinkled translations I've read remind of the the modernist persian poets.  0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/06/oothan-valay-tur-jaan-gay.htmlWed, 15 Jun 2011 17:44:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-2361451035927613137 Hazrat Umar Khayam understood it the best.  Here it is sung. 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/05/matter-of-mere-perception.htmlSat, 28 May 2011 20:11:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-5601835037706643566Unless the perception of Pakistanis is harnessed in favor of the fight against terrorists and miscreants, no matter how many ‘high value targets’ are killed, the entire exercise to bring law and order will go in vain. Recall how radically the national opinion in Swat changed after Sufi Muhammad rejected the Pakistan Constitution followed by the video of the flogging. The Swat operation was0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/05/clean-break-in-policy.htmlWed, 25 May 2011 08:52:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-3366738561451492862Mere tweaking of policies in the hope of altering the downward spiral of the nation's trajectory are an exercise in vain. Only a clean break from the past 30 years of policies can offer a way forward. Pakistan's civilian leadership remains happily passive to a swirl of events.  Perhaps they are waiting for the military to buckle under pressure and willingly agree to become subservient to 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/05/ptis-dharna-against-drone-attacks.htmlMon, 23 May 2011 08:41:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-1297617592737348309PTI has successfully latched onto an issue that it can own with the holding of the second dharna against drone strikes in Karachi.  The basic premise is sound:  The policy of entangling oneself with the US in Afghanistan will continue to have an escalating blow back for Pakistan.  35,000 Pakistanis have been murdered since 9/11 and terrorism rises every day.  The policy has 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/04/posing-for-firing-squads.htmlSat, 23 Apr 2011 19:29:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-6336003142434661446One cannot dispute the single-minded resolve of the people across the Mediterranean Arab world for change.  The droves that come out of their homes everyday and face the firing squads are no less sincere in their desire for seeking change than 18th century French or the revolutionaries of Iran.  I find poetry conveniently missing in the reporting of massacres of protesters in the 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/04/punjabi-months.htmlSun, 17 Apr 2011 17:03:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-1017665433108249572 Po [December] Maagh [Jan] Phagan [Feb] Chaiter [March] Baisaakh [April] Jaytth [May] Haarr [June] Saavan [July] Bhaadroun [August] As-suu [Sept] Kat-aa [October] Magar [Novermber] 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/04/mickey-mouse-revolutions.htmlSat, 9 Apr 2011 01:49:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-2445655177326976142The revolutions of Arabia are, not surprisingly, turning out to be mickey mouse revolutions at best.  Egypt is firmly in the grip of the military dictators who are attempting to cushion the blows of the young against an old order.  Libyan nationalists, hoping to secure a different future find themselves, again not surprisingly, stuck between a senile old leader trying to wipe them out 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/04/post-cricket-semi-final-analysis-by.htmlThu, 7 Apr 2011 21:06:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-3105708643614358629"Sister-fuckers!" "They lost a match that was won!" "Sons of thieves!" "Sister-fuckers!" 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2011/02/gaddafis-last-stand.htmlSun, 20 Feb 2011 21:38:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-1663695558982651624As Tunisia and Egypt went down to anti-government protesters, the message for the rest of the Middle Eastern regimes was to stand up and fight it out.  Unfortunately, this is no longer an age when media and channels of communications can be curtailed.  However, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen are next in line for the battles for regime change.  Bahraini leadership seems to have 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2010/10/developing-mindset-for-tourism.htmlTue, 19 Oct 2010 17:01:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-7122386060821361940The pitfalls from a lack of vision can be seen in the lost opportunities in the tourism sector of Pakistan.  This is an industry that first and foremost requires a mindset not merely of tolerance and acceptability of others, but a desire to see others arrive and spend their wealth in the national economy.  There is an overabundance of historical, social, religious and most of all 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2009/12/imanae-malik-haunts-doctors-hospital.htmlSun, 13 Dec 2009 12:12:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-2479852900574828807 Negligence on part of doctors at Lahore's 'most expensive' hospital, known as 'Doctors Hospital', has ruffled, if not shaken those who are performing the duty of saving lives. The negligence leading to the death of the child Imanae (website: www.imanae.co.uk) has already resulted in the closure of the pharmacy at the hospital for selling 'fake drugs' and not handling temperature sensitive drugs1noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2009/11/nro-beneficiaries.htmlSun, 22 Nov 2009 20:59:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-2663100468983920451For what it's worth: The accused (and their accusations) ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Law and Justice under the direction of the prime minister on Saturday released official lists containing names of government servants and others who benefited from the NRO. These include: (NAB-Punjab & NAB Rawalpindi) Govt servants & others 1. Muhammad Ahmad Sadiq, Ex-Principal Secretary to PM (Assets 2noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2009/11/projected-winners-of-gilgit-baltistan.htmlWed, 11 Nov 2009 11:21:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-1769830760704047090The elections for the Northern Areas are taking place today.  These regions were left stranded since 1948 due to the UN Kashmir resolution calling for a plebiscite that would decide the fate of the region.  However, the people of Gilgit and Baltistan are non-Kashmiris.  The region is said to have been incorporated into the Kashmir princely province by the British colonial rulers.&0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2009/11/slide-of-ppp.htmlThu, 5 Nov 2009 10:14:00 +0500tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-5961025432568367405While I don't support the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), it carries the most points for representing all sections of the Pakistani society, unlike any other political organization. So there is always a tinge of hope, despite its flaws, that the PPP survive these self-inflicted wounds. While the relationship between the Pakistan establishment and the military hierarchy has always been 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2009/10/war-of-attrition.htmlTue, 20 Oct 2009 20:51:00 +0600tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-287292577303938904While it's not exactly a war of attrition, there is little choice but to see the fight against the Taliban and the Pakistan state reach a logical end with control of all territory under the country's security forces and laws.There will be many more terrorist attacks by the Taliban such as the one in the university in Islamabad. However, by attacking soft targets, the Taliban have shown their 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2009/10/kerry-lugar-bill-cat-out-of-bag.htmlWed, 14 Oct 2009 14:13:00 +0600tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-1801833656155233913President Zardari's been called a whole lot of things. Manipulative. Conniving. Corrupt. Devious. Shrewd.Perhaps no one has felt the blows of these alleged traits more than the Pakistan Armed Forces after the passage of the Kerry-Lugar Bill. KLB will provide $1.5 Billion in annual assistance for five years to Pakistan. The problem however, for 'beggars who want to be choosers', is that KLB0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2009/10/waltz-with-bashir.htmlSun, 4 Oct 2009 00:24:00 +0600tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-2339929904373656682Waltz with Bashir. Just saw the film. The gut of the film is gut-wrenching. Perhaps because of the association so many more Palestineans than Israelis (my roomate and neighbors were Palestinian) I immediately took this film in the political context. But that personal bias only enhances my appreciation of this film and the people who made it. Tim O'Brian un-peeling his journeys in Vietnam 0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)http://frazshafique.blogspot.com/2009/09/entrepreneur.htmlWed, 23 Sep 2009 11:36:00 +0600tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366765365899951282.post-2916839238321945568They may not be geniuses. They may not win the Nobel prize. They may not score the most number of runs, nor top the rich and famous. They may not drip with poetics or create the next scientific breakthroughs. They are not philosophers or historians who wish to piece together the external with the internal and make sense of it all in the mind. But entrepreneurs are the pulse, the heartbeat and0noreply@blogger.com (Fraz)