Reaction

re zehra #59:

Writers seldom make good critics of their own works. The message they try to convey and the message that is largely understood are seldom in confluence. This doesn`t mean that the writer is unsuccessful in his or her endeavour merely that he or she didn`t realize the potential impact of his or her own work.

Persecution IS largely a state of mind. If the immigrant families have ghettoised themselves into a state of inaction and paralysis then they deserve what is happening(largely imagined and hyperbole) to them. All the more important that these immigrant families spend more time with their neighbours than celebrating dozens of Eid-milan, Shia, Ahmaddiya or whatever other baggage carrying events they have from their former homelands.

username:

How about a narrative relating those trials and tribulations at Freddys, Zouq and the rest of the playgrounds of the rich and the pretentious? Or would that be too much to take for the burqa-clad virgins in the backseat of the Alto?.....no pun intended...........:)

later

-sac

P.S: Blue horseshoe loves China.........

Ref wholly-precious-you #: 56

[...and at the rate female children are being killed due to selective abortion in india, neither will you....now what will the chinese do?...]

Follow the lead of Tibetans and share a wife amongst several men!

Happy Christmas World

The Innocent Dead in a Coward`s War

The price in blood that has already been paid for America`s war against

terror is only now starting to become clear. Not by Britain or the U.S.,

nor even so far by the al-Qaida and Taleban leaders held responsible for

the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. The price has been

paid by ordinary Afghans, who had nothing whatever to do with the

atrocities, didn`t elect the Taleban who ruled over them and had no say in

the decision to give house room to Bin Laden and his friends.

The Pentagon has been characteristically coy about how many people it

believes have died under the missiles it has showered on Afghanistan.

Acutely sensitive to the impact on international support for the war,

spokespeople have usually batted away reports of civilian casualties with

a casual ``these cannot be independently confirmed``, or sometimes simply

denying the deaths occurred at all. The U.S. media have been particularly

helpful. Almost two months into the bombing campaign, the * * *Los Angeles

Times * * *only felt able to hazard the guess that ``at least dozens of

civilians`` had been killed.

Now, for the first time, a systematic independent study has been carried

out into civilian casualties in Afghanistan by Marc Herold, a U.S.

economics professor at the University of New Hampshire. Based on

corroborated reports from aid agencies, the UN, eyewitnesses, TV stations,

newspapers and news agencies around the world, Herold estimates that at

least 3,767 civilians were killed by U.S. bombs between October 7 and

December 10. That is an average of 62 innocent deaths a day - and an even

higher figure than the 3,234 now thought to have been killed in New York

and Washington on September 11.

Of course, Herold`s total is only an estimate. But what is impressive

about his work is not only the meticulous cross-checking, but the

conservative assumptions he applies to each reported incident. The figure

does not include those who died later of bomb injuries; nor those killed

in the past 10 days; nor those who have died from cold and hunger because

of the interruption of aid supplies or because they were forced to become

refugees by the bombardment.

It does not include military deaths (estimated by some analysts, partly on

the basis of previous experience of the effects of carpet-bombing, to be

upwards of 10,000), or those prisoners who were slaughtered In

Mazar-i-Sharif, Qala-i-Janghi, Kandahar airport and elsewhere.

Champions of the war insist that such casualties are an unfortunate, but

necessary, byproduct of a just campaign to root out global terror

networks. They are a world apart, they argue, from the civilian victims of

the attacks on the World Trade Center because, in the case of the Afghan

civilians, the U.S. did not intend to kill them.

In fact, the moral distinction is far fuzzier, to put it at its most

generous. As Herold argues, the high Afghan civilian death rate flows

directly from U.S. (and British) tactics and targeting.

The decision to rely heavily on high-altitude air power, target urban

infrastructure and repeatedly attack heavily populated towns and villages

has reflected a deliberate trade-off of the lives of American pilots and

soldiers, not with those of their declared Taleban enemies, but with

Afghan civilians. Thousands of innocents have died over the past two

months, not mainly as an accidental byproduct of the decision to overthrow

the Taleban regime, but because of the low value put on Afghan civilian

lives by U.S. military planners.

Raids on targets such as the Kajakai dam power station, Kabul`s telephone

exchange, the al-Jazeera TV station office, lorries and buses filled with

refugees and civilian fuel trucks were not mistakes. Nor were the deaths

that they caused. The same goes for the use of anti-personnel cluster

bombs in urban areas. But Western public opinion has become increasingly

desensitized to what has been done in its name. After US AC-130 gunships

strafed the farming village of Chowkar-Karez in October, killing at least

93 civilians, a Pentagon official felt able to remark: ``the people there

are dead because we wanted them dead``, while U.S. Defense Secretary Donald

Rumsfeld commented: ``I cannot deal with that particular village.``

Rumsfeld has inadvertently conceded what little impact the Afghan campaign

(yet to achieve its primary aim of bringing Bin Laden and the al-Qaida

leadership to justice) has had on the terrorist threat, by speculating

about ever more cataclysmic attacks, including on London. There will be no

official two-minute silence for the Afghan dead, no newspaper obituaries

or memorial services attended by presidents and prime ministers, as there

were for the victims of the twin towers. But what has been cruelly

demonstrated is that the U.S. and its camp followers are prepared to

sacrifice thousands of innocents in a coward`s war.

Recent media reports have confirmed that a Pakistani nuclear scientist had talks with bin Laden. The experts have now found out that this particular scientist has devoted a good part of last thirty years working on new technology to harness jin-power. Author Judith Miller is convinced that this new technology in the hands of bin Laden will prove lethal to the civilised world.

Talking to news reporters, Indian Foreign Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh said, that now the response to Pakistan will come after New Year`s Eve. He said that that while one of the attackers has been positively identified as a resident of chak #12, they are still looking at the tape of a recent conversatioon, in which Musharaf allegedely says to Aziz ``Whassup?``.

And in a related story a sad new development in Afghanistan. The newly appointed counselor R. Saxena died of diahrea. Doctors blame excessive eating of chapli kababs, said his close freind Mr. Speen Gul. Reliable sources confrim that Ram has reincarted Mr. Saxena as a cockroach in New York City.

From LeMonde,France---excerpt,translated.24/12/2001

WORTH READING.

__________________________________________

``(...) Hamid Karzai, who is as comfortable discussing sitting on a carpet as in a Washinton or London ``salon``, has a profound knowledge of the western world. After Kaboul and India, where he has studied law, he completed his learnings [apprenticeship ?] in the USA, where he acted, for a while, as a consultant for the American oil company Unocal, at the time it was considering building a pipeline in Afghanistan. (...)``

__________________________________________________

IT`S ALL ABOUT OIL!

From The Congressional Record. Emphasis added by the web master.

U.S. INTERESTS IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN

REPUBLICS HEARING BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL

RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION

FEBRUARY 12, 1998

Next we would like to hear from Mr. John J. Maresca, vice president of international relations, Unocal Corporation. You may proceed as you wish.

STATEMENT OF JOHN J. MARESCA, VICE

PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, UNOCAL CORPORATION

Mr. Maresca. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It`s nice to see you again. I am John Maresca, vice president for international relations of the Unocal Corporation. Unocal, as you know, is one of the world`s leading energy resource and project development companies. I appreciate your invitation to speak here today. I believe these hearings are important and timely. I congratulate you for focusing on Central Asia oil and gas reserves and the role they play in shaping U.S. policy.

I would like to focus today on three issues. First, the need for multiple pipeline routes for Central Asian oil and gas resources. Second, the need for U.S. support for international and regional efforts to achieve balanced and lasting political settlements to the conflicts in the region, including Afghanistan. Third, the need for structured assistance to encourage economic reforms and the development of appropriate investment climates in the region. In this regard, we specifically support repeal or removal of section 907 of the Freedom Support Act.

Mr. Chairman, the Caspian region contains tremendous untapped hydrocarbon reserves. Just to give an idea of the scale, proven natural gas reserves equal more than 236 trillion cubic feet. The region`s total oil reserves may well reach more than 60 billion barrels of oil. Some estimates are as high as 200 billion barrels. In 1995, the region was producing only 870,000 barrels per day. By 2010, western companies could increase production to about 4.5 million barrels a day, an increase of more than 500 percent in only 15 years. If this occurs, the region would represent about 5 percent of the world`s total oil production.

One major problem has yet to be resolved: how to get the region`s vast energy resources to the markets where they are needed. Central Asia is isolated. Their natural resources are land locked, both geographically and politically. Each of the countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia faces difficult political challenges. Some have unsettled wars or latent conflicts. Others have evolving systems where the laws and even the courts are dynamic and changing. In addition, a chief technical obstacle which we in the industry face in transporting oil is the region`s existing pipeline infrastructure.

Because the region`s pipelines were constructed during the Moscow-centered Soviet period, they tend to head north and west toward Russia. There are no connections to the south and east. But Russia is currently unlikely to absorb large new quantities of foreign oil. It`s unlikely to be a significant market for new energy in the next decade. It lacks the capacity to deliver it to other markets.

Two major infrastructure projects are seeking to meet the need for additional export capacity. One, under the aegis of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, plans to build a pipeline west from the northern Caspian to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Oil would then go by tanker through the Bosporus to the Mediterranean and world markets.

The other project is sponsored by the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, a consortium of 11 foreign oil companies, including four American companies, Unocal, Amoco, Exxon and Pennzoil. This consortium conceives of two possible routes, one line would angle north and cross the north Caucasus to Novorossiysk. The other route would cross Georgia to a shipping terminal on the Black Sea. This second route could be extended west and south across Turkey to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

But even if both pipelines were built, they would not have enough total capacity to transport all the oil expected to flow from the region in the future. Nor would they have the capability to move it to the right markets. Other export pipelines must be built.

At Unocal, we believe that the central factor in planning these pipelines should be the location of the future energy markets that are most likely to need these new supplies. Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union are all slow growth markets where demand will grow at only a half a percent to perhaps 1.2 percent per year during the period 1995 to 2010.

Asia is a different story all together. It will have a rapidly increasing energy consumption need. Prior to the recent turbulence in the Asian Pacific economies, we at Unocal anticipated that this region`s demand for oil would almost double by 2010. Although the short-term increase in demand will probably not meet these expectations, we stand behind our long-term estimates.

I should note that it is in everyone`s interest that there be adequate supplies for Asia`s increasing energy requirements. If Asia`s energy needs are not satisfied, they will simply put pressure on all world markets, driving prices upwards everywhere.

The key question then is how the energy resources of Central Asia can be made available to nearby Asian markets. There are two possible solutions, with several variations. One option is to go east across China, but this would mean constructing a pipeline of more than 3,000 kilometers just to reach Central China. In addition, there would have to be a 2,000-kilometer connection to reach the main population centers along the coast. The question then is what will be the cost of transporting oil through this pipeline, and what would be the netback which the producers would receive.

For those who are not familiar with the terminology, the netback is the price which the producer receives for his oil or gas at the well head after all the transportation costs have been deducted. So it`s the price he receives for the oil he produces at the well head.

The second option is to build a pipeline south from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed for American companies because of U.S. sanctions legislation. The only other possible route is across Afghanistan, which has of course its own unique challenges. The country has been involved in bitter warfare for almost two decades, and is still divided by civil war. From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and our company.

Mr. Chairman, as you know, we have worked very closely with the University of Nebraska at Omaha in developing a training program for Afghanistan which will be open to both men and women, and which will operate in both parts of the country, the north and south.

Unocal foresees a pipeline which would become part of a regional system that will gather oil from existing pipeline infrastructure in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. The 1,040-mile long oil pipeline would extend south through Afghanistan to an export terminal that would be constructed on the Pakistan coast. This 42-inch diameter pipeline will have a shipping capacity of one million barrels of oil per day. The estimated cost of the project, which is similar in scope to the trans-Alaska pipeline, is about $2.5 billion.

Given the plentiful natural gas supplies of Central Asia, our aim is to link gas resources with the nearest viable markets. This is basic for the commercial viability of any gas project. But these projects also face geopolitical challenges. Unocal and the Turkish company Koc Holding are interested in bringing competitive gas supplies to Turkey. The proposed Eurasia natural gas pipeline would transport gas from Turkmenistan directly across the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey. Of course the demarcation of the Caspian remains an issue.

Last October, the Central Asia Gas Pipeline Consortium, called CentGas, in which Unocal holds an interest, was formed to develop a gas pipeline which will link Turkmenistan`s vast Dauletabad gas field with markets in Pakistan and possibly India. The proposed 790-mile pipeline will open up new markets for this gas, traveling from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Multan in Pakistan. The proposed extension would move gas on to New Delhi, where it would connect with an existing pipeline. As with the proposed Central Asia oil pipeline, CentGas can not begin construction until an internationally recognized Afghanistan Government is in place.

The Central Asia and Caspian region is blessed with abundant oil and gas that can enhance the lives of the region`s residents, and provide energy for growth in both Europe and Asia. The impact of these resources on U.S. commercial interests and U.S. foreign policy is also significant. Without peaceful settlement of the conflicts in the region, cross-border oil and gas pipelines are not likely to be built. We urge the Administration and the Congress to give strong support to the U.N.-led peace process in Afghanistan. The U.S. Government should use its influence to help find solutions to all of the region`s conflicts.

U.S. assistance in developing these new economies will be crucial to business success. We thus also encourage strong technical assistance programs throughout the region. Specifically, we urge repeal or removal of section 907 of the Freedom Support Act. This section unfairly restricts U.S. Government assistance to the government of Azerbaijan and limits U.S. influence in the region.

Developing cost-effective export routes for Central Asian resources is a formidable task, but not an impossible one. Unocal and other American companies like it are fully prepared to undertake the job and to make Central Asia once again into the crossroads it has been in the past. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

More on the role that oil and oil companies are playing in current events can be found at TomPaine.com

It was a good thing to block entry of Arafat to Bethleheim.

all, thanks for reading..i appreciate the comments.

this is not my title...i don`t have a title for it yet.

anny. wow..what a compliment..i had no idea you felt this way. this is a work in progress. i am having a hard time trying to get everything into it...still working on it. send more some substancial critique of the work to me so that i can improve on it. (fatimazehrarizvi@hotmail.com) thanks.

sac and others who are talking about self flagellations and are obviosuly not reading the piece properly: im not being persecuted. i dont feel persecuted. im talking about immigrant families that are comming from a background where they expect a sort of persecution. im talking about their mental state. read it again.

anyway, thanks all.

z.rizvi.

re: romair

{{China I have a lot of respect for. It will an equivalent superpower to the US (if not bigger superpower) within our lifetimes.}}

...once the chaptas have learned a thing or two about democracry and individual liberty, the two basic elements for true original thinking and invention to take place in a society, then the US can start to worry about chaptas becoming a bigger superpower...until then chaptas will remain busy beating up and throwing beggars off the streets of beijing to make it look pretty for the olympics...

rajanjua

``Indian Foriegn Minister complained that Musharaf`s usage of the words ``arrogant`` and ``kneejerk reaction`` is uncivilized barrack talk. He recalled that while he served with Women`s Gaurd, they never used words like these.``

....speaking of the women`s guard, there was this really annoying indian gov`t spokeswoman on cnn last night...when the presenter asked her why they don`t just show their proof to the pak gov`t because musharraf had promised he would take strice action against the groups involved...her answer?...hem...haw....hem....we`ve already shown the proof to friendly countries...france, uk, usa..hem....haw....no need to show it to pak...hem....haw....hem...great....so they won`t accept any interfernce in the kashmir matter....but at times like this, will turn to everyone, except the country they have to deal with...even the presenter had a hard time keeping a straight face.....

harimou:

``The only thing China will need to import are women. Their male to female ratio is severely skewed due to selective abortion. But if you guys have 4 wives each, I don`t think you can afford to send any women to China either.``

...and at the rate female children are being killed due to selective abortion in india, neither will you....now what will the chinese do?...

re: romair (israel)

I believe in a policy of engagement. Friends are more likely to listen than percieved enemies. All Israelis are not like Sharon - There is almost a fifty-fifty split between hardliners and moderates. Opening up diplomatic relations can only help the Palestinians. It has taken 50 years to make this clear to thick-skulled arabs, that Israelis are here to stay. Normailsing relation would make it even clearer for those who are still delusional.

p.s. You ofcourse make a whole lotta sense on your China argument - And I am sure Pakistan will stick with China, simply because they are reliable.

re: romair (israel)

I believe in a policy of engagement. Friends are more likely to listen than percieved enemies. All Israelis are not like Sharon - There is almost a fifty-fifty split between hardliners and moderates. Opening up diplomatic relations can only help the Palestinians. It has taken 50 years to make this clear to thick-skulled arabs, that Israelis are here to stay. Normailsing relation would make it even clearer for those who are still delusional.

hamzad #41: Gen Hamid Gul and Gen Aslam Beg are two very interesting figures, alongwith Gen Javed Nasir. All three of them seem to have gone through a transformation, somewhere in their lives, going from one side to another.

If the grapevine is correct, Javed Nasir used to be one of the most famous party animals of the Army. He now has a long beard, and has become a born again Mujahid, of some sort. Hamid Gul was given a piece of the Berlin Wall, for helping break down the evil Soviet Empire. Now he is turned into a different person. Aslam Beg used to be quite a reasonable person, as well. However, he got transformed somewhere along the line, also.

I would place these guys (at least Gul and Beg) at the opposite end of the spectrum from Generals like Musharraf and Karamat, in terms of balance. You will rarely, if ever, see Karamat or Musharraf, or many others, make unnecessary statements.

Somewhere along the line, close to retirement, I have noticed some Generals go through a transformation. As they realize they are about to become common citizens, and about to lose the immense powers they have as Lt. Generals, they are unable to cope with it. They make feeble attempts to stay in the limelight, not through achievements in the civilian sector, but through controversial statements based on their previous career. These guys need to learn to gracefully fade away into the sunset, rather than creating controversies for Pakistan, through irrational statements (which most of them rarely made when they were in the Army; except for Beg`s desire to join with Saddam Hussein against the Saudis in the Gulf War), like support for Mullah Umar and declaring the WTC bombing a Isreali conspiracy (the Israelis kill a lot of innocent civilians, but they would never kill Americans).

Retiring for the military, and stepping into civilian life, can be a traumatic change of socieites. Unfortunately, some people are unable to handle it, and make successful civilian careers. Luckily they are an exception, and not the norm.

semipreciousme #35: What happened to that girl/lady is an off-shoot of the feudal/tribal mentality of Pakistan. This is why I have always stated that feudalism/tribalism has to be removed from Pakistan, in any sort or form; even if it has to be done by force.

I think the govt. is taking quite aggressive action in this case. That is to be commended. It has become a national issue, and everyone wants the culprits punished. The Supreme Court and the ministers are personally involved. This is a good sign. I cannot recall this happening on any such case, previously.

Luckily (if that word can be used here), the criminals weren`t powerful feudals (although they maybe operating under the umbrella of powerful feudals/tribals). Had that been the case, then it would have been more difficult to take action against them.

Although this is an extreme case, I am somewhat surprised that people are so shocked over it. Anyone, like myself, who has had the opportunity to live in remote parts of Pakistan (I spent quite a bit of time stationed in rural Punjab) has seen the plight of the average villager, under the control of the feudals and landowner and his henchmen. It is quite disgusting. These people appoint their own favorite inspectors, assistant commissioners etc. to their areas. They are themselves MPAs, MNAs etc. And anyone who can hang onto their coattails, under their protection, can do anything they want, i.e. they can get away literally with murder and rape.

All of this starts from the top, i.e. political power, and trickles downhill to attitudes which reek with tribalism and feudalism. I am absolutely convinced that this mentality cannot be removed at the grassroots level, unless it is removed at the top political levels.

The next time people support Ivy league educated feudals/tribals for National Assembly seats, they should think about what happens in the lands these people own, and think about this girl/lady (I just read on the Internet that she maybe 30 years old).

I think only one of the rapists has been caught. The other three are on the lose. I can`t imagine any of the decisions (like the ones given by this tribal jury) could have been made, had they not felt they enjoyed the protection of the higher-ups (tribal leaders/feudals).

This incident, in a nutshell, represents everything that is wrong with the tribal/feudal mentality in Pakistan. Had there been a feudal govt. in Pakistan, this would have been swept under the carpet. After all, this isn`t the first time, something like this has happened.

Rjanjua #43: ``If we have to be someone`s canada why not stick with U.S. by making proper changes)``

I agree with you, on this one. However, I don`t think what you have said is possible.

If we can be the USA`s Canada, then there is nothing like it. I think we should be the whole world`s Canada, or at least the whole world`s Mexico, if we can be.

However, it takes two to tango (taali do hathon say bajti hay). We can only become the USA`s Canada (or Mexico) if it wants us to, and if we can. The US neither wants us to, nor can we. There are far far too many countries that are way ahead on the list, as far as the US is concerned (India being one of them). It should now be clear to everyone in Pakistan, that despite our great desires to be America`s favorite Mexico, the US isn`t too interested in us. And it is nearly impossible for us to have Canada-like economic ties with a country that is geographically literally on the other side of the world.

China on the other hand is a completely different ball game. It is an economy already half the size of the US, that imports $250 billion a year. We have built a joint highway connecting us together. And are builiding a pretty big port together. Our military ties are much stronger than anyone realizes. All of Pakistan`s (and much of China`s future military hardware) will be jointly built together. We have nuclear ties. We have a common enemy in India. Our views on nearly all international issues are similar.

And we have a lot to offer China. Things like a port to the Arabian Sea. Land to grow crops. Access to Western military technology. And hopefully someday highly skilled labor to augment their booming economy. Not to mention, being an ally against India. And most of all, we are geographically right next to each other. That is the primary requirement in becoming a Canada.

If the predictions are correct, then China`s economy will be five times its current size in twenty five years. Lets say their imports go to $1.25 trillion, during that time. If Pakistan can just get even 40 to 50 billion (around 3% to 4%) of this market share, in the next twenty five years, imagine what it would do to Pakistan`s economy.

The biggest factor is that despite any kind of govt. Pakistan has had, there are two countries which have been solid allies; one is China and the other is Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia I don`t care for much, but China I have a lot of respect for. It will an equivalent superpower to the US (if not bigger superpower) within our lifetimes. I think we need to get into it like the Israelis (or Canadians) have gotten into the USA. And I think the current govt. is making all the right moves. Looking east towards China is Pakistan`s new economic policy. And I know for a fact, it is the military engineering policy.

``(for starters open an embassy in Tel Aviv - that should take care of most of our PR problems right away``

I (and AI) consider Israel, one of the biggest violators of human rights and UN resolutions in the world. Infact, Ariel Sharon is currently being tried in Belgium by Amnesty International. However, I think it is about time the Muslim world became realistic and accepted Israel. Israel is obviously not going to disappear from the map of the world. The moment Israel agrees to a viable Palestine state, I think Pakistan should be the first to set up an embassy in Israel. Before then, would cause a lot of problems, within Pakistan. The Israeli military has a lot of respect for Pakistanis. Primarily because Pakistanis pilots are the only pilots in the world, who have kicked Isreali butt in air combat. The Israelis understand this, as well. Friendship with Israel would solve a lot of Pakistan`s PR problems, as you have stated. However, I don`t think it would make us the USA`s Canada or Mexico. While we may give the US a lot of importance, to the US we are just another of the 200 or so countries in the world. It is about time we accepted this fact.

sac Reply #: 40

``P.S: username,Zafar Al Talib and other Girl Friday haters: Very simple balm for your affliction.......Don`t read it. If that doesn`t work how about chewing on this. A xxxxxxx is someone who is always thinking there is someone else out there who is always having more fun than he is``.

Dear sac

fyi, I`ve already tried not reading it. But I can`t resist (just like I can`t stop watching CNN!), although I know for sure that I`ll only end up feeling like sh1t. Then why do I read it? Because kabootar ki tarah aankhen band kerna is not in me. As long as it`s there, it`s THERE and I gotta read it. If they have the right to print it, then I have the right to complain. That is the very reason why this ``letters to Ed`` thingie is there in every good journal/magazine/newspaper. And even if it falls on deaf ears... well too bad but that doesnt mean if they are not doing their job, I should`nt do mine. Simply not reading it is gonna do no good to no one. I know for a fact that so many from the middle class read this crap and fall victims to inferiority complex. The only problem in the world Ms Aaminah Haq seems to be facing is to ``have an appropriate `shallu` to wear`` while 5 million ppl on our western border are starving to death right now. Did you read ``We, the fake`` on Chowk? I cud so relate to it as all my life, I`ve hung around on the streets of lahore, from zouk to freddys to cuckoos and at the bottom of my heart, all my life I`ve felt like an a$$hole! Sorry to disagree, but I think a xxxxxxx is someone who has always had the best of both the worlds, without even giving a thought to those who are made to take sh1t from this cruel world everyday! I know I`m rambling on and on but I feel like crap when I go back home and see sights like 4 girls covered in dupattas all over, packed on the back seat of an alto --- those eyes looking at you are so full of mehroomi --- it just breaks me apart from within. And to top it off, we give them ``girl friday`` to read :-(

By the way, ppl DO listen sometimes!

Subject : Re

Date : Thu, 20 Dec 2001 11:24:13 -0500



Reply Reply All Forward Delete



Dear * * * * * *:

Thank you for your message. We would like to print it as a letter in the next

magazine if that is agreeable to you.

Looking back on this, I chose the photo because, in some way, I saw it as an

illustration of the huge barriers to understanding that suddenly faced the

majority of Americans. I do agree that the image could be viewed as

stereotypical, and an accompanying caption might have explained this, saying

that some are unable to see the reality of the Muslim world because they are

kept in the dark by their own lack of knowledge. That was one of the challenges

put forth by the article that called for an immediate shift in

thinking and an openness to the truth.

Sincerely,

Original message follows:

Dear Editor

I got a chance to skim through the latest issue of your magazine. On page 2, I read and totally agreed with Duer McLanahan RT (letters etc.) who wrote that the magazine ``is very informative, well-written, has splendid photos...``. I moved on to ``Acts of hatred, or acts of love?`` (Search for understanding) and while it talked about avoiding generalizations and stereotypes, I was disappointed to see the accompanying photograph of five veiled women (page 13). I would very respectfully like to point out that a MAJORITY of Muslim women in progressive Islamic countries do not dress up in this manner. The photograph totally negated the spirit of the article and was, at best, out of place and less than ``splendid``.

Sincerely,