The Garage School

Slink,

What can i say. Great work in disseminating such esoteric information about the good being done; no matter at such a miniscule scale.

Keep writing. Woh KGS wala comment aap ko aur kuch aur famous hastioun ko apply nahin karta. Hope you can see the humour in it. :)

Asim

Good on shabana!

Slink,

Put the list of things (shabana needs for her kids) up on this board...
And don`t forget to tell us the address where things should be sent...

Good work slinky!

``Yeh Khita inquilabi hai, nayee duniya basaye Ga

Jab tak waqt jaye gaa, is ko agay hee paye gaa``

Towards an egalitarian, democratic, and progressive Pakistan!

Pakistan Zindabad

On second thought... i think reply #1 was a bit rude!

I should have asked how we/I can help shabana...

Sorry about that!

Very interesting article.

It mentions the name of a person I have some familiarity with, Flight Lieutenant Syed Safi Mustafa (shaheed) S.J. There is a squadron named after him in one of the PAF`s cadet training institutions (quite a big honor). Anyone interested in him can go to http://www.pafmuseum.com.pk/contents/sh71smustafa.htm.

If you go to this page, you will see something interesting in the left hand column. There is a list titled, ``71 Shuhuda.`` Prominent in this list are two Christians, Wg. Cdr. Meryn Middlecoat and Sqn. Ldr. Peter Christie. The former is one of only two or three officers in the PAF to get two Sitara-i-Jurats. Apparetly, he is also the Shaheed of the week at the PAF museum (also mentioned in this article). It is interesting and heartening to see that at least the PAF has not lost its traditions of treating all ethnicities and religions the same within its boundries, even though the rest of Pakistan seems to be losing this ideal.

I know quite a few ladies who lost their husbands in Pakistan`s various wars. I have always been a great admirer of their courage and patience. They are treated like VIPs within the circles of their husband`s colleagues. It is great to see someone who has already given her husband to Pakistan, give so much more.

hi Shandana... i was wondering if you could send me Shabina Mustafa`s contact.... my e - mail address is ashi@vogue.com... thanks..Ayesha

Shandana,

A lovely article, I am sure that this school and its philosophy makes every Pakistani proud, it makes me proud......such people represent the greatness of Pakistan.

regards

Harpreet

Dear Shandana,

This is just so fantastic, heart warming and makes the Pakistani side of me so proud. Thank you for posting this article! God was probably looking down at Shabina and saying to his jealous angels: that`s why I made her kind superior to you all.

Something that I always place on par with life`s most basic needs, like breathing, is the ability to read, write and speak.

Is there anyway I can help? Is it possible to obtain Shabina Mustapha`s contact details. Of course I`m based in UK and she in Pakistan but hopefully that shouldn`t pose any major problems. My e-mail address is Omarphoenix@aol.com.

Thank you once again and best wishes

Omar Phoenix

``It is interesting and heartening to see that at least the PAF has not lost its traditions of treating all ethnicities and religions the same within its boundries, even though the rest of Pakistan seems to be losing this ideal. ``

I grew up on PAF bases around Pakistan - my father being a GDP fighter pilot and if there is one thing that I keep hearing from pilots to airmen to engineers it is this : PAF is the most racist, sexist and prejudiced Air Force. My father himself left the PAF early on in his career because he was not a Punjabi (even though he spoke Punjabi fluently and grew up in Lower Topa Muree and then Sarghoda and Sialkot).

You can forget about the walls thick with Islamic prejudice that are put up to prevent Qadianis (Ahmedis), Shias (``khatmals``), Mohajirs and non Muslims like Christians etc. Sure it suits the PAF quite well to have Christians dying for them -instead of their own sons. It suits them quite well that MM Alam and the most celebrated PAF pilot is a Mohajir. However how many people know that MM Alam today is amongst the most severely disillusioned men ?

There was a time when the Pakistan Air Force was indeed blind to prejudice a long time ago when the RAF trained our men and the PAF was run according to the Britain`s Manual. The only thing that mattered ( a long time ago ) was : merit and talent. Today with our madrasahs teeming with Mujahids the gentleman soldier is becoming extinct. He is getting replaced by the barbaric antics of the Arab savages who invaded and raided trade caravans and weakened countries (as in the 6th century). These savages are the same who treat women like ``war booty`` and make concubines out of them (``enjoy of what your right hand possess``).

By the way - my father later became the greatest bounty hunter for the Pakistan Air Force and subsequently Air Forces of the Middle East from Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia to the UAE and Oman. What was his bounty ? whom did he target ? why the Qadianis ofcourse. The Ahmedis hid their identities from fear of persecution - my father named all ``suspected`` Ahmedis and was instrumental in the ruination of many families. He was like the grand inquisitor and General Mccarthy rolled into one (and probably still is). Today in the PAF men like my father thrive (him and all his friends who are very devout Muslims. Men who refuse to shave their beards, who abuse their wives generously and then come to my father for help with convincing their wives to put on the veil and for counseling on how best to order their wives to stop driving.

Really Islam is very useful for men who choose to follow it. There are quite a few such Muslim men who will be proud to do what my father is doing to people.

Think about this .... Shabina Mustafa`s efforts have caused kids who would otherwise be resigned to their `destiny` as the underclass to at least BELIEVE that they can be `baray adami.` That in itself is an achievement of heroic proportions.

Alas, it is not nearly enough. Unless the mechanism to reward effort equitably (i.e without the prejudices and favouritism that we are infamous for) these kids will be awoken to a rude shock later in life when they learn that an education and industriousness are not all it takes to become a successful person in Pakistan. AND THAT WOULD BE A TEASE CRUELLER THAN LEAVING THEM WITH THEIR EYES SHUT.

No praise is enough for Mrs. Mustafa`s efforts. However, let us not take our sights off the equally important need for the kind of politically engineered reform that will ensure that these kids` destinies are not limited to vocational schools (No disrespect meant for these schools).



Good work, Shandana! Keep it up!

The effort and the results achieved by the lady in question make us in India see another side of Pakistan. Maybe I shall take ylh (and others) on their invitations to visit this aspect of Pakistan.

On a different note, what do you have in the PAF museum? I know that the IAF museum has some Pakistani aircraft and vehicles . . .

As a person associated with the Airforce.... I assure you that Solitude has crossed all limits of lying...

Interestingly enough PAF has had atleast two ACMs who were Ahmadis....

Yasser Hamdani

It is great to hear that an increasing number of Pakistanis are becoming sensitive to the needs of the poor people of Pakistan. Great job!

Please send me additional details, if conveniently possible at bahmad@home.com

Sincerely,Bilal Ahmad

re PM #9

Patrick,

And that`s the harash reality of it all... isn` it!?

Thanks for your much needed reminder to keep the bigger pictrue in foucus without taking anything away from shabana`s efforts...

PM, you are too good! How about a PM fan club? :)

dear all,

i`m sure shabeena, and her kids, will be overwhelmed by this response. anyone interested in wishing to contact her can write to her for more info at garageschool@hotmail.com

fairdinkum...that wasn`t rude at all :) again, i was very impulsive and forgot to add the addy at the end.

pm..good point..thats why she`s been taking them to places like the behbood centre. erollment at behbood costs about rs 50, or so she told me, and she wanted to know if i could get her in touch with some people who might help. so i sent this to chowk. and i can`t really tell you how tingly i feel at this confirmation of the chowk spirit.

thanks
shandana

Good Work

The lady is indeed doing a fine job

But what irks me is the title of the article

And its emphasis in the end

Schools definitely should not discriminate on the basis of religion

But at the same time basic education should inculcate values and these stem from religion

So while we should be tolerant we should not DENY that ISLAM is the only true religion and that all other religions are in our view false and misleading