A Visit to Pakistan

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Re: Sharayar

Sir/Madam, What in God`s name are you trying to say. Your message is in poor English and completely unintelligible. Please proof read before submitting messages.

Hi Vinod,

``...And many of the men were in traditional costume-the shalwar/kameez``.

It is heartening to see that the Pakistan Army is adopting these traditional ways - they are wearing shalwar/kameez and track suits in Kargil.

I guess the track suit is useful when the Indian Army is near and its time to run.

....well I earnestly belive that though some of us may look same and may have some roots that intermingle somewhere back in the time line, WE ARE DIFFERENT....and nothing can change...even though we may get flooded by the waves of Zee and Mtv waves.....and that is inevitable...

Kashmir is stingy alright..but I guess those who have benefitted the most have been the armies of respective countries and kashmiries themselves,atleast Pakistani kashmiris are very well off....as far as masses are concerned...it doesnt matter who they are,they suffer and that is inevitable too...

and its a fact that no matter how much beautiful prose we use and how eloquently and euphemistically we put things...the divide will be there,the chasm will remain...inevitable....all that is needed is acceptance!

TAhmed321 wrote, ``I think you should know that porters in Lahore and Islamabad

airports (perhaps Karachi too) get paid in any case by the airport authorities so what that gentleman walked away from was

just the tip that the porters normally expect.``.

Mr. T , That was a stingy remark to say the least. I am sure you are one of those passengers who fight with those poor porters for a couple of rupees. And also, they are not paid by the authorities. They actually have to pay them (Rishwat) to get a Qullee Tag!.

Impressive article! Very objective and definitely very informative.

I recently returned to Karachi after many years and was quite surprised by the tremendous improvement in the infrastructure of the city. The trip was preceded by a trip to Delhi, where my father`s side of the family resides , and in comparison to Delhi`s infrastructure, Karachi`s was much more developed. This didn`t make much logical sense to me since economically India seems to be far more progressed (opening of markets to foreign investors) than Pakistan and yet I saw a vast discrepancy in the development of the cities. However, your article answered that question for me - for in addition to the Gulf bringing in money there was much money being pumped in due to the Cold War. Makes Sense!

Is there any validity to the statement that illegal money from drugs also represents a substantial part of the Pakistani economy?

Also as one of the other readers suggested I would be very interested in learning more about this agency - ActionAid? What is its function and how long has it been around for? Are there other agencies such as this?

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Sadaf, may I also point out that many Indian Muslims stayed behind because of choice. The absence of that reason for why there are more Muslims in India than Hindus in Pakistan, irked me a bit, I suppose.

Vinod,

You demonstrate a commendable interest in Pakistan and a desire to develop an understanding of the concerns of many Pakistanis. That is good. Incidentally, much as I would like to accept your ``Full marks to Pakistan!`` where the porter in Lahore had no problem not being paid for carrying your luggage, I think you should know that porters in Lahore and Islamabad airports (perhaps Karachi too) get paid in any case by the airport authorities so what that gentleman walked away from was just the tip that the porters normally expect. So let`s deduct a few marks for that. Anyway, I am glad you enjoyed visiting our country.

Vinod:

You`ve summed it up so succinctly, ``...preliminary, impetuous. confused and much more.`` If nothing, one cannot but admire the honesty of your expression.

Wish you had elaborated on Actionaid some.

regards

About Pakistani`s having relatives in India, there is a simple explaination. Fewer Hindu`s were left in Pakistan after the partition than Muslims in India. One reason was that there simply were more Muslims in that part of the sub-continent and all of them couldn`t migrate. Most of the Hindu families that migrated, didn`t leave relatives behind.

Another reason could have been that being in Islamabad you must be mingling mostly with Punjabi Pakistanis or Urdu Speaking (Mohajir) Pakistanis, and they would be more likely to have relatives in India, than say Baluchis or Sindhis.

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A highly enjoyable article to read and even more so in the sense of how green the grass appears from the other side of the fence!

A correction: VS Naipaul`s latest book on Islam is called Beyond Belief. His first book on Islam is called Among the Believers.