Carnage in Karachi

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Romair

I am not familiar with Naqshbandis view on Shias, however, I agree with his views on Ahmadis, that they are non-Muslims. I do not know about his views on treating Ahmadis though.

Personally, I think Ahmadis should be given constitutional parity with Muslim subjects along with an autonomous legislature like other non-Muslim subjects of state. This fine tradition was established by Holy Prophet (pbuh) himself through a documented constitution in Medinah. Shias, however, are absolute Muslims. There is no difference between us and them.

Romair sirji, what is with this Haagen Daaz business anyway?

Please try our very own Amul Dairy and also sister concern Mother Dairy icecreams, as well as Nirulas and Vadilal, from the co-op sectors in India. Not only are they good, but they have managed to give Kwality Walls (Hindustan Levers), Baskin Robbins and others a run. Nestle has not dared to sell ice-creams in India. Haagen Daaz hides in some corner, served at upmarket places for brand building.

So, here is another business plan: ice cream from India.

Though frankly, I would go for the ice cream I had at Raha/Rawalpindi anyday. What milk, boss!

(How many Pakistanis here have eaten ice cream at Rahat in Rawalpindi, may I ask ji?)

#71

I am not sure what such a report proves. Press censorship in Pakistan (in my view) is more a matter of self-censorship. Most reporters/publishers know which line they can cross and which they cannot. Writing an editorial is one thing, the powers-that-be dont seem to care about what editorials are written in English papers.

Quality investigative journalism seems to be another matter. If I am not wrong the reporter from the ``Herald`` who wrote the piece on Dawood in Karachi received the midnight knock on his door. Shehbai (sp?) was forced to leave. Some interesting news reports about the Daniel Pearl death had started cropping up after the incident and just as quickly dissapeared . If I am wrong could someone point me to quality investiagtive journalism that Dawn has done in the last few years?

Also note the exhortation in Musharraf`s speech after the Qader Khan revelations. He ``urged`` journalists to report in a ``nationalistic and cautious`` manner. I dont think such ``urging`` is taken lightly in Pakistan (correct me if I am wrong Omar).

(Note, I am just discussing Pakistani press here, I dont deny similar problems exist to some extent in Indian media too)

Temporal Sirji . . . all other things being the same, typical 48.8 grams newsprint varies FOB price between 400 and 500 dollars per metric tonne . . . but costs can go up to 800-1000 dollars per tonne also if the paper is glazed, treated, pulp content etcetc . . . so typically the cost to quality is a factor for the buyer to decide . . . from the website of Tamil Nadu newsprint and Paper Ltd. . . . ````Global news print prices started moving up in FY00 started revcrsing in FY01 due tothe economic collapse following the tech meltdown. This trend continued throughFY02 and FY03 even as global newsprint prices dropped from $650 to $ 400 perton, after touching a high of $ 720 per ton. However these years also consolidation ofglobal capacities and brought back some price stability.Domestic newsprint prices follow global prices and it had similarly impacted realizationsof the domestic newsprint companies. The domestic newsprint segment was restrictedto PSUs till 1991. In 1992 newsprint was decanalised and was placed under the opengeneral licence in 1995. The year 1996 saw mass dumping of cheap newsprint fromforeign producers causing heavy price pressure. Over the years duty on newsprintwas reduced and is currently attracts only a 5% import duty. This is well below WTOnorms of 25% import duty for newsprint. As a result newsprint prices are directlyimpacted by global prices.````

re: Omar R. Quraishi # 73

I agree with you; I have not met you and nor, is there a chance I will meet in the future. There is a reason for my harsh comments and I will share them, with you if are really interested. As to my sanctimonious behavior, that will continue and I do not apologise for it.

Omar, I can see that you are still smarting. One of the advantages of having a sanctimonious character is that one develops a healthy immune system from criticism. You have absolute right not to listen to my rants and raves, but I have an absolute right to rave about any topic I wish. As a newspaper editor, I had hoped you would appreciate the right to expression. As a member of media in the public fora, whose role is a public one, comments about your personality are not beyond bounds and an editor, is also answerable for his/her actions and the readers judge them, by the words they use to express an opinion.

Sir, in a democracy, it is the people who hold the government responsible and in a facist dictatorship, it is the government, which holds the people responsible. Judging from your comment (holding accountable, feroz, is something for the govt to do...), I can guess your point of view on the matter. A newspaper is the conscience of a public; it voices their hopes, conveys their concerns, and words theirs thoughts. It can shape public opinion for the good or for the worse and it is only limited in its scope not by the public, but by its own considerations. A good editor articulates the pulse of the readers and a medicore editor expresses an opinion.

There is a saying, that a poor workman (if you will pardon my politically incorrect usage) always blames his tools. In Pakistan, we always blame our tools and we never blame ourselves, imagining that some how the fault of the tools, will absolve us of our guilt. We blame none, while all around we see the mistakes gathering, and soon the question how these mistakes came into existence cries out to be answered.

Omar, remember, there are many ways to skin a cat. Attending political rallies is not the only way to express a committment to freedom; influencing young minds on the goodness of democracy might be another way.

Ciao

Urstruly: Do you agree with Naqshbandi`s views on Shias and on Ahmedis?

veeru/omar/anyone who is informed

what is the cost of newsprint in india and in pakistan? (for the sake of comparision i would appreciate having the bottom line price per ton, all duties paid

thnks

t

ferozk

I appreciate you writing this series of posts, especially # 49. You are in touch with yourself in them.

OMAR SAEED SHEIKH UPDATE

Learnt that the trial has been conducted. OMAR SAEED SHEIKH was sentenced to death. OMAR SAEED SHEIKH wasn`t at all concered that he will really need to die. He called the whole affair a waste of time. He said that he agreed to go through the process only to please his father.

Dawn and other Pakistani newspapers were not allowed to cover the trial. Why that was the case, wasn`t made clear.

I wonder if any journalist from Dawn has been following the progress of this hanging and can tell us how OMAR SAEED SHEIKH hs been spending his time in Pakistan after the verdict. Pakistan being at war against terrorism, OMAR SAEED SHEIKH`s life must be very hard. Probably he is totally isolated, and his hanging is pretty imminent.

The ``freedom fighter`` loving Omar Qureishi writes:


[quote]
obviously you have not heard of the saying that one`s man`s terrorist is another man`s freedom fighter -- as for meeting those who carried out the bombing, actually the editorial didnt say that the writer should meet them shri mishra but that the govt should try and understand the psychology of the bombers and try to pre-empt their acts -- as for their pain and suffering, i doubt it that the jihadis go through too much pain or suffering, esp when they are led to believe that suicide bombings are the surest and quickest way to going to heaven -- as for your personal slur, it reflects your low level of intellect so does not warrant a response -- jai ram shri pmishra ji
[end-quote]

No surprises here from you. The usual twisty rigmarole and nonsensical illogic. If you really believe that ``one`s man`s terrorist is another man`s freedom fighter`` then you have absolutely NO right to condemn the freedom struggle in Karachi. These murders are increasing the freedom of the jihadi sponsors and you must respect their ``just cause``.

And finally, please do not insult my hindu heritage by dragging it into your hateful non-logic. I realize that this may be hard for you, as you are the citizen of an aggressively monocultural and sectarian state. Please try to understand that in the civilized world it is considered innappropriate to make such references.

Omar ji, Omar ji, Omar ji!!

I thank you for all your responses, and would like to crystallise my responses cum queries to you on this board for now.

1) You have tried to answer qualitatively why newspapers cost so much in Pakistan. I have provided you with quantitative data on how newspapers can be cheaper in Pakistan. What next?

2) In your Urmila Matondkar editorial you have quoted PTV as the main source for your analysis. In the interacts therein you have told me that PTV is for bootlickers. So what are you, then, if not a bootlicker?

3) You have cast wide aspersions on people based on their living outside Pakistan for whatever reason, but you yourself have not been outside on a bus in a while. So how does that make you a better person, then, to enable you to come up with a ``my way or no way`` kind of stance?

4) You throw wild lobs about me getting personal. Well, sorry, but you put your name on the byeline, what did you expect? If you dont want people to interface with you on a personal basis, then let it be unsigned?

5) And finally, what is new about the Karachi blasts that your editorial has to say? Does any media in Pakistan come out with the truths behind this violence, and the truth is simply dhandaa gone gandaa?

Over to you.

Ferozek #various: I think the problem maybe that you are too caught up in the Aitchison crowd. You need to get out of Lahore, and go live in rural places. Spend a year or two living there, as an adult, in places like Ranjinpur, Mianwali, and Kohat.

I used to die to get a job in Lahore or Islamabad or Karachi. Was never able to, as long as I was in Pakistan. Nor could I affoard Hagen Daz on my own salary. Life in Lahore and Islamabad is not bad, if one is rich, with or without traffic problems. I go to these cities now, and feel as elitist as I do in Toronto.

In fact, as long as one has access to Hagen Daz, life in Ethiopia is good also. So I am not sure how much a rich person in Lahore can complain. I suppose only a little more than a rich person in Toronto can complain.......Eating Hagen Daz is not elitist and is your right. Eating Hagen Daz and then complaining that it wasn`t the right temperature, is elitist.....

Aitchison is never going to show you the real Pakistan. It is as related to the real Pakistan, as Chowk is related to the real Pakistan.......If your only experiences of Pakistan are Aitchison, Mall Road, Chowk and Lahore, then I am afraid you will always remained depressed. People in these areas are depressed because they (we) have only one foot in Pakistan. Our loyalties are divided. Go meet people who have nothing else but Pakistan. They are more upbeat......Many of them have beards and many do not.....Don`t worry about that part.....

I think one needs to say a few things in Omar Qureshi`s support here.

I read Dawn regularly, and it is a good newspaper, by any standard. The write-ups by Ayaz Amir and co. are far more balanced and knowledgeable about world politics that anything one reads in US newspapers and much of what one reads in Indian newspapers. Primarily because these guys have much more exposure to the whole world, as compared to the American writers, who barely get out of USA or Europe. I read a good ten newspapers a day (four Pakistani, three Indian and three American), on a regular basis, so I have a good idea of what I am talking about.

Pakistani press (written) is free. I cannot see how it could be any more free. The writers themselves say it is free. Just read any newspaper. It is cynically free. Musharraf is caricturized more there, then he is in a BJP campaign. There are interviews by Benazir, and anti-govt. statements by Shahbaz Sharif. And the maulvis have actually released fatwas, in the press, against Musharraf.

There is no pro-govt. block, in the press, like there is in the USA. There is no Rush Limbaugh, or Clear Channel, or Fox or O`Reilly Factor, supporting everything the govt. does. There is no media machine that can convince 70% of Pakistanis that Iraq had something to do with Al-Qaeda, even when it didn`t.

As for people like Omar Qureshi, they don`t need to defend themselves. The fact that they are sitting in Pakistan, is enough of a defence. One can debate issues with them, like I debated that Dawn is an upper-middle to upper class paper and does not cater to the middle class view (since the middle class is not English speaking). This is different from being elitist. But one cannot doubt their integrity. They are trying to make a difference from inside Pakistan. Unlike us expats, who are sitting comfortably abroad.

Having said that, many of use sitting abroad, did live in Pakistan, for a long time. And did try to do quite a bit. And many, like myself, are still trying hard to establish business footholds there through off-shore offices. But those, who went straight from college in Pakistan to abroad, and never paid a penny of tax in Pakistan, or who have no intentions of doing anything there in the future, should be letting off steam, on themselves, and not on Omar./

P.S Omar, you have a tendency to get too involved in arguments with various Indians on this site, who are not going to offer a constructive argument to you. As a newspaper person, you should have developed a better sixth sense, in figuring out who is going to provide you constructive criticism, who is just yanking your chain, and who is just a bigot. You would be well-advised in interacting with just the first group of Indians. The later two groups will just waste your time.......

omar_r_quraishi

Do you know how the trial of IMAR SAEED SHEIKH has been proceeding in Pakistan? What kind of life is he leading? Has Dawn or any other major Pakistani newspaper done a recent story on him?

Thanks for the information.