Friday, July 27, 2012

Area 14/8: Piety comes at a price

Out of the 12 months of the Islamic calendar,the month of Ramadan occupies a special significance. It’s the month where Muslims have a chance to move beyond their worldly preoccupations and devote themselves to God Almighty;a chance to revive their spiritual link with God and His people. Qualities of self-restraint,self control and simplicity are endorsed. But just like previous years,these traits have yet again evaded Pakistan. Profiteering,hoarding and superficiality have come to dominate the Month of Blessings.

From food inflation to television shows,the commercialization of Ramadan is rampant. The government decided to set up Ramadan bazaars to provide staple goods easily to the masses. Good quality eatables particularly fruits,vegetables,meat,poultry and lentils will be available at cheaper rates in these markets.  Members of the district administration and special magistrates would be deployed to monitor quality and price controls. The Punjab government has even promised to provide water and waiting room facilities in these markets.

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

Dealing with Burma:Reality versus Rumor

July 12th:According to ‘some’ international news agencies:500 villages torched,thousands killed by Buddhist mobs and the Burmese army.

July 16th:The photos,all the evidence is out!

July 17th:Somehow all of that makes Pakistanis are unpatriotic for not staying in the country.

July 19th:Google images prove the photos were a sham Now what?

July 20th:The Jihadis might step in.

July 21st:JI presses demands on the government to launch an official protest against the heinous crimes against Burmese Muslims.

July 23rd:Budhist Rakhines’ continuing bloodshed of the Rohingya Muslims,and Social Media goes all ‘Muslim Umma’ should unite.

First of all,all those,including myself,who believe in the International media’s perpetual bias against the Muslim World were proud that for once we can highlight an issue to the World,and prove to the humanity preaching citizens of the West that the East shall not be fooled. Only to face a mega embarrassment,the photographs of dead,naked bodies (supposedly of the Rohingya Muslims being patrolled by the malevolent Buddhist priests) were in fact a sham. Yes people argue that ‘the photos might have been fake’ but those Muslims are being killed. But that’s beside the point. The Social Media was lying,that’s something even the biased mainstream media avoids unless all else fails. And the lies told are so intricately built that those who call out on them are labeled Conspiracy Theorists for life. Therefore lesson number 1: We lack strategy.

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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Hypocrisy for Iftaar this Year

Pakistan’s media this year pulled all stops,falling short of being an Indian soap opera in its own right. What with talk show hosts and political analysts abandoning all pretense of dignity and composure, TV channels baring the darker side of the screen, videos leaking, clerics swearing and Veena Malik showing Rakhi Sawant how it’s done;who needs drama?

Last year in August,a big bad ‘editing machine’ (computer),competitors,minority groups and other bad people (e.g. those who have,according to his column,ignored their namaaz),apparently ‘doctored’ footage of renown tele-evangelist Dr. Aamir Liaquat Hussain and made him swear and giggle over hilarious topics like rape.

Is the caretaker also the thief?

With an economy in ruins, rapidly shrinking public amenities and an external image to put the least patriotic person to shame, the Pakistani public is desperately seeking a remedy to the root cause of this distress- a new political order through the induction of caretaker government. 

Caretaker governments are used in many democracies to manage the state affairs in times of an election when the current parliament is dissolved until the new government takes control. It is temporary in nature and thus, meant to oversee administrative tasks only not policy formation. A neutral caretaker government can help to ensure transparency during the electoral process.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Syria- it’s time to talk

The news around Syria these days revolves around countries using angrier tones against Assad, Turkey amassing troops along the border, and top Syrian military leaders defecting. All of the developments,...

The news around Syria these days revolves around countries using angrier tones against Assad, Turkey amassing troops along the border, and top Syrian military leaders defecting. All of the developments, combined together have so far done absolutely nothing to Assad’s grip. The facts on the ground are that Assad is still in control of the government’s most powerful bodies, most notably the military, and by extension of Syria.

Assad is a man who grew up watching his father, exterminate entire rebellions without word ever reaching the outside world. With the advent of the internet, this is no longer possible, but Assad still behaves as if it is. The reason he does this is because he knows the chances of a foreign military intervention is unlikely. This isn’t some pariah state like Libya where it mattered to no one if the government was toppled, or like Tunisia where the monarchy could be evacuated in a single day and the system destroyed. With Syria there seems to be the complexities of Libya but this time the regime has international backing. So far China and Russia have successfully vetoed any bill that would entail military intervention. This time NATO doesn’t seem likely to intervene either because of the upcoming U.S elections. Even so the Free Syria Army is receiving a lot of help. Qatar’s president has even hinted, and we use the term lightly, at a military intervention without the Security Council. Turkey has been pushing for harder steps against its neighbour, but for the moment it seems that everyone is too busy squabbling

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Syria hit by diplomatic defection as UN fights divisions

Nawah al-Fares

BEIRUT — Syria’s ambassador to Iraq defected on Wednesday in protest over President Bashar al-Assad’s violent suppression of a 16-month uprising as the U.N. Security Council remained deadlocked over the next steps in the crisis.

“I declare that I have joined, from this moment, the ranks of the revolution of the Syrian people,” Nawah al-Fares said in a video statement posted on Facebook. He did not elaborate or say from where he had posted the statement.

Waves of bankruptcy in California

San Bernardino late Tuesday became the third California city in two weeks to declare bankruptcy, sending tremors through city halls across the state and immediately raising the frightening question: Are more bankruptcies to come?

California cities and others throughout the country are asking themselves the same question as they struggle amid a still-ailing economy and bad decisions made in the boom years.

Stockton, a Central Valley city of nearly 300,000, two weeks ago became the largest U.S. city ever to seek refuge in the bankruptcy courts. Mammoth Lakes, a Mono County town of about 8,300, followed suit July 3.

Area 14/8: Choosing the right computer

Most computer users don’t think much when it comes to an Operating System (OS) that runs on their computers,whether it’s a desktop or a notebook. For them all that matters are the few software applications that they use to achieve their purposes either for work or entertainment or both. The software application majority of computer users use (and sometimes have only used) is the web browser or the program used to browse the INTERNET. Tasks for which home computers are most used for are web browsing,email,chatting and audio / video communication. With increase in game console systems like Sony PS3 ®,Nintendo Wii ® and Microsoft Xbox ® to name a few,the computer’s role in gaming is quickly diminishing.

Tablet computers have further decreased computer’s utility for a casual user. Tablet computers not only offer instant on (without delay power on) but also allow users to achieve most of their objectives much more easily and quickly through a more “natural” touch graphical user interface (GUI). Due to the touch screen technology,especially the multi-touch capacitive screens,interaction with tablet computers is much more efficient and fun. This new screen technology coupled with powerful hardware (all the electronic parts inside the tablet which you cannot see),tablets have become not only powerful tools for professionals like architects,engineers,doctors etc. but have opened a new game market with highly interactive and immersive entertainment and infotainment experience.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Syria: Bad Peace Plan Could Intensify Violence

Syria Protests

A new Syrian peace plan appears likely to go nowhere after it was rejected by both sides and watered down due to differences between the United States and Russia. While there were reports that Moscow’s policies at the conference indicated some softening of its support for the Assad regime, the peace plan could actually make the Syrian crisis worse, at least in the short term.

UN-Arab League Syria peace envoy Kofi Annan convened a conference in Geneva, Switzerland on June 30 in response to the spiraling violence in Syria and to salvage his failed peace plan. The conference issued a vague communiqué in which the attendees agreed to push Syrian parties toward a transitional government.

Abu Jundal refrains from commenting on ISI role in Mumbai attacks

The arrest of the mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks, Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Hamza alias Abu Jundal, has sparked tensions between India’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) over the question of who coordinates his arrest.

The electrician who went on to become one of the most wanted terrorists in India was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport – according to senior officials, the entire operation to track down Hamza was coordinated by the IB. Officials also say that Hamza arrived on a commercial flight and not on a special flight arranged by RAW.

Meanwhile, the IB has gotten to work on extracting as much information from the terrorist as possible on his role in the Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) network and the alleged involvement of Pakistani state actors in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which 166 people were killed.

When Quetta was safe

All of us have some special kind of emotional attachment to things that we cherished during  childhood and teenage. The home where we have the earliest memories,our childhood best friends,that special watch that one of your elders gave  you after getting good results in school,that special spicy chaats which your mother used to forbid you to eat,the places where you used to spend your vacations and many other things which one never gets too old for or too tired or too used to.

I have been to Iran 8 times. 7 out of those 8 times happened in either my childhood or teenage years. In all of those times,I traveled through Quetta back and forth. So with every Iran’s trip,I visited Quetta twice. Apart from those times,I sometimes used to go to Quetta to receive my family members when they went to Iran leaving me behind. Being from a reasonably well off Shia family meant that almost every year,many from my family would go for different pilgrimages e.gUmrah,Iraq,Syria,Iran etc. The places hold deep spiritual attachment to shias,with shrines of the holy infallible,which can only be understood by someone who shares the same feeling. Iran always used to be the first choice visit due to multiple factors. Since it was controlled by Shia government the pilgrims did not face the same kind of problems as in Iraq under Saddam or in the kingdom of Saudi regime. The second factor of course was that it was a cheaper route through Quetta on trains and buses. And hence the reason for my frequent visits.

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Monday, July 2, 2012

Divorcing the Taliban

The long and short of the war in Afghanistan was to eliminate terrorists and reinstall social equality for the locals so that women can have a greater say, children can acquire education and the young Afghans can find a stable source of income. The decade long war has ripped Afghanistan limb from limb; thousands of people have died, millions have incurred lifelong crippling injuries, social security is non-existent and perpetual state of chaos has taken over the nation. 

The politics of withdrawal of coalition forces has seen ups and downs. The Chicago summit underscored the sincerity of the coalition forces in exiting Afghanistan. Months prior and after the summit, NATO forces have been integrating the Afghan security forces in their daily routines. NATO agreed to carry out night raids via Afghan counterparts, stop aerial attacks on Afghan residential buildings and even basic literacy camps have been set up to educate the afghan troops. A dip in Taliban attacks was also recorded.

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