A Desi Dilemma

Bold and insightful - `A Desi Dilemma` reminded me of `The Kite Runner`. What an amazing story-teller!

One of the best articles at Chowk.

Brilliant Adam ,
You are very promising; I can see sparkles of brilliants in you. I am from kerala, south of India, your characters are real and with little bit of cosmetic touch up, can be from any where in the sub continent and not just NWFP. Make sure you keep portraying them honestly but without reinforcing prejudices and stereotypes. I am impressed by your style of narration. Its time you start working on a full length novel .all the best.

Re: # 52

Well there are people outthere who would agree with a Mullah saying that TV is haram and in Afghanistan TVs were actually strung to poles during the time of the Taliban, reason being that those people who did it believed a certain interpretation of Islam.

But there are also more people outhere in the NWFP who think that the T.V. poses no conflict with their religious faith and they either change the channel or just keep on watching whenever a bikini appears.

The incident that you have highlighted was fictional and a satirical effort to show the effects of social pressure. It also pointed out an irony that something as harmless as a mobile was rendered haram while the plague of the N.W.F.P. the AK 47 was considered just another item of daily use. I would like to say here that I dont know of any instance where mobile is being deemed haram, it was a figment of my imagination.

There are people in every society who are TOO RIGID to accept any change. Their behaviour is funny as well as dangerous, I write about these rigidities and the absurdities that they create, because I find them laughable.

I am sure if you look around in your society you will find many stupid rigidities in the Indian Muslim Community.

Would love to hear about those.

Dear Adam

I would like to ask you one question. If tommorrow any Mullah says travelling by Aero Plane is un-islamic because the planes were invented by Wright Brothers from America. In that case Darya Khan, the pathan would have to travel by America or Saudi Arabia by horse or by foot. The same applies for automobiles

``With all eyes on Gulzar Shah, he knew exactly what to do. He gave his beloved Nokia to one of Khan Lala’s gunmen, and watched as it was smashed into pieces with the butt of a halaal AK-47. ``

Well he could switch the mobile phone off when is offering namaz or when it is not required

Iqbal Singh (India)

PS: I would be happy if any Pathan or a Pakistani fellow clears my above querry.

Re: # 49

arjun,

....... this week`s economist says that the indians are helping the terrorists in baluchistan .... is that true ?

Re: # 49

This logic goes pretty well with the Kashmiri insurgency, the differnce between the Taliban and the Kashmiri insurgency is that the Kashmiri Mujahideen are focused on India. Where as the Taliban have designs on Pakistan`s tribal areas as well. That is why Musharaf in control of the Taliban is something that doesnt make logical sense. There can be elements within the ISI and Pakistan Army who favour the Taliban but then these are the elements who want Musharaf removed as well. Thats why the regular shuffling of generals takes place at the top levels in Pakistan Army.

What you are saying here is that Musharaf is Bush`s baby, and Mullah Omar is Musharaf`s baby. So basically Bush is the grand daddy of all Taliban, it makes for one hell of a conspiracy theory, but it doesnt make much sense.

With 33% in approval ratings GWB will give anything to lay a hand on Osama to say that he is not doing so because he doesnt want to piss Musharaf off is something that is very hard to believe.

One order from Washington simply dissolved the strong relationship that the ISI and the Taliban had back in 2001. I dont think anyone can play it both ways like that.

As far as the creation of Jihadis is concerned well it wasnt only Pakistan, the saudis and the Americans played their part as well, and i guess everyone is reaping what they sowed.

This line of reasoning that you are presenting is very common among moderate muslims aka keyboard jihadis who hate Musharaf`s liberal agenda as well as Taliban`s conservative rant so they put them together and the cherry on top is W himself.

These people also claim that Osama is a CIA agent, some say mossad but mostly its CIA.

#47 by adamkhan on July 4, 2006 3:33am PT



Musharafs great plan for Pakistan is to cash in on its potential geographic rent,


There are elements within the Pakistani military and the ISI that still support the taliban. Musharraf himself wants to use the taliban to control Afghanistan when the US forces leave. He wants to have his cake and eat it too..The result of this brilliant policy: 700+ Pakistani soldiers dead at the hands of the jihadis they created..

Wanting to cash in on self-declared geographical potential is a long way from actually being able to do that. the whole pipeline thingy is a Pakistani wet dream..a 50+ year wet dream that`s no nearer realization today than it was in the last century..


As far as the statment from the commander goes, well the Commander in chief is constantly patting Mush on the back


Great for mushy...Except that part about the repeated violations of Pakistani airspace and the incident with the hellfire..

the pat on the back is actually a nudge..a nudge to get Pakistani forces to act against their own creation..witness the 10K extra soldiers sent to the border the day Condi Rice came calling..

I almost missed on this one, and would have certainly regretted if I had. Another brilliant piece Adam! Your technique of story-telling is immaculate, and so are the topics that you write on, exposing the dual face of our society and its torch-bearers.
Loved that `Ask me how/why` thing, it is so very innate to majority of us desis. And just like many others here,I`ll eagerly look forward to reading more from you.

So the Pakistani government is sheltering the Taliban so that they can challenge its writ in Waziristan, Khyber Agency and Mohmand Agency? doesnt make sense.

Musharafs great plan for Pakistan is to cash in on its potential geographic rent, namely the pipelines from Iran and central asia as well as the trade corridor from Gawadar to China. Thats it. The Taliban are active in areas that are crucial to the success of his plan. Now why would you think that Musharaf would be hell bent on ruining that?

As far as the statment from the commander goes, well the Commander in chief is constantly patting Mush on the back, and even Karzai detracted from his earlier statment by saying that Zarqawi might be in Afghanistan.

#45 by adamkhan on July 3, 2006 6:08pm PT


Karzai has to point his finger at Pakistan every now and then just to keep the N.A. happy. How else can one explain the recent exchange of heated statments from both sides.i.e. Afghanistan and Pakistan?


Umm..i don`t know..a teeny tiny(albeit inconvenient) possibility that the taliban are actually being sheltered in Pakistan?

Taliban using Pakistani territory: US commander

WASHINGTON: Taliban forces fighting US troops in Afghanistan have grown stronger and more sophisticated, and are directing operations from neighbouring Pakistan, a senior US commander said on Wednesday.

The war between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban was in ethnic terms a war between the Persian Speaking Afghans and the Pushtoons. The Northern Alliance gained a formidable ally in the form of the US and was able to topple the Taliban.

With Mullah omar and co on the run, its General/Marshal Fahim, General Dostam etc who yield the biggest sticks when it comes to Afghan sticks. Thus the perception within the Pukhtoons here that they have lost their controlling influence in the great motherland. So the Taliban are seen as not only fighting for Islam but also for Pukhtoon pride.

The perception maybe wrong or it may be right but it sure is benefiting the mullah more than anyone else. Dont know why the establishment would want that? Because the reports coming out of Waziristan are very troubling.

What was funny that during the American invasion many nationalists here were talking of a Punjabi-Farsiban alliance to wipe the Pushtoons of the face of the earth. The convoys of young pukhtoon pakis who rushed forward to help the Taliban were not all bearded madrassah students, many were doing it because the Pukhtoons over there were in trouble.

Karzai has to point his finger at Pakistan every now and then just to keep the N.A. happy. How else can one explain the recent exchange of heated statments from both sides.i.e. Afghanistan and Pakistan?

adamkhan #39

`` The impotency of ANP, the talk about Kalabagh and the formidable position of the northern alliance in Kabul is helping them reach out to the disgruntled Pukhtoon nationalist. ``

Please explain what you mean by the formidable position of the Northern Alliance in Kabul. It is a myth propagated by the establishment in Pakistan.

I thought the story started out with overwrought stereotypes, but you redeemed yourself with very perceptive back & forth conversations. Wonderful storytelling indeed! The ending was a bit contrived.

if the place indeed is full of guns, and there is hardly any hunting available, any government will have much difficulty ..

I hope so too Zakk, they are afterall the lesser of two evils..