Starting from the End

Re: # 13; Laddu

Stop stressing yourself Laddu; you might get high blood pressure! I agree that Taslima should be able to say what she wants about Islam or anything else for that matter. Problem is this concept has become an industry now; I oppose this concept of commercialisation of ideas.

Jayp is right; she should move (I think she already has, to Sweden) to the west and then she can really "let her hair down" so to speak. Might even sell a few books and get rich!

I personally find her most un-appealing; not because of her anti-islamic ideas but the quality of her writing; and not the least bit attractive!

That is my humble opinion as a muslim-atheist.

Re: # 13

Laddu,

I do not understand the issue here. Talsima is a Bangladeshi and she cannot spread anti islam message from India simple as that. She should join the salman rushdies and only the west can invest so much money in protection of some one with anti-islam ideas. As of now islam is about jihad and no islamic scholar has condemned jihad, even the ducated on chowk have only gone as far as to say that jihad prohibits the killing of innocents, leaving the fact that in islam all non muslims are non-innocents.

From an islamic premise to talk of womens liberation is blasphemy. The operational proof is hoodood laws of pakistan, ratified by the sharia court of pakistan, the highest islamic court in south asia manned by the most scholarly of teh islamic variety.

Re: # 10 Posted by teshah
Apology well taken & accepted.
I was born & raised in Karachi everything about Karachi concerns me, it is a naturally embedded feeling and I am sure that everyone carries such a passion for their neighborhood, village, city and on an overall basis for the homeland.
I am sure you must hold a level of passion for the place where you were born & raised.
Fortunately or unfortunately I happened to quit my lovely homeland some 4 decades earlier, but I cannot get over the passion for it and as dearly I feel for all the people & places I knew in Pakistan.
My children stare at me when I am watching television broadcasts from Pakistan and certain scenes bring tears to my eyes without control.
It makes me so sad that we who believe in the one & only Allah SWT & his messenger Mohammad SAW/PBUH, we pray towards the same Kabah, we have the same revelation the Quran-e-Kareem and yet we look at each other differently with a discriminating attitude.
It makes my heart cry when I see the turmoil in our homeland, when I notice that we the muslims have placed wedges amongst ourselves with each other magnifying our little differences as if such negativism bears more importance than the call of our Prophet SAW/PBUH for each of us to feel the pain of other even if a brother has a thorn stuck in his foot in China we as Muslims are supposed to feel yet we don't feel the pain of the one sitting next or living next to us.
Where is this state of our ignorance leading us? isn't this a sign of self destruction? and it hurts to see that we are our biggest enemy. Can we even imagine as to what we are approaching towards?
Its high time that we the Pakistanis put our differences away and seek forgiveness from Allah SWT and ask HIM to bless us with solidarity, peace and prosperity before it is too late to turn the clock backwards.
May our coming generation flourish together like flowers of varioius colors and aroma in a garden, ameen.

AN APPEAL TO ALL INDIANS


Every Indian must speak ............. your every word in support of Taslima would ........ every statement that embarrasses these red-chaddi walas from Bengal ....would ensure that Islamic terrorism does not survive in India..

The way in which I was turned into a political pawn, however, and treated at the hands of base politicians, beggars belief. For what end, you may well ask. A few measly votes. The force of fundamentalism, which I have opposed and fought for many years, has only been strengthened by my defeat.

This is my beloved India, where I have been living and writing on secular humanism, human rights and emancipation of women. This is also the land where I have had to suffer and pay the price for my most deeply held and fundamental convictions, where not a single political party of any persuasion has spoken out in my favour, where no non-governmental organisation, women’s rights or human rights group has stood by me or condemned the vicious attacks launched upon me. This is an India I have never before known. Yes, it is true that individuals in a scattered, unorganised manner are fighting for my cause, and journalists, writers, and intellectuals have spoken out in my favour, even if they have never read a word I have written. Yet, I am grateful for their opinions and support.

Must read for all Indians..........

The Vanishing

Taslima Nasrin

Published on March 11, 2008



Where am I? I am certain no one will believe me if I say I have no answer to this apparently straightforward question, but the truth is I just do not know. And if I were to be asked how I am, I would again answer: I don’t know. I am like the living dead: benumbed; robbed of the pleasure of existence and experience; unable to move beyond the claustrophobic confines of my room. Day and night, night and day. Yes, this is how I have been surviving. This nightmare did not begin when I was suddenly bundled out of Calcutta—it has been going on for a while. It is like a slow and lingering death, like sipping delicately from a cupful of slow-acting poison that is gradually killing all my faculties. This is a conspiracy to murder my essence, my being, once so courageous, so brave, so dynamic, so playful. I realise what is going on around me but am utterly helpless, despite my best efforts, to wage a battle on my own behalf. I am merely a disembodied voice. Those who once stood by me have disappeared into the darkness.

I ask myself: what heinous crime have I committed? What sort of life is this where I can neither cross my own threshold nor know the joys of human company? What crime have I committed that I have to spend my life hidden away, relegated to the shadows? For what crimes am I being punished by this society, this land? I wrote of my beliefs and my convictions. I used words, not violence, to express my ideas. I did not take recourse to pelting stones or bloodshed to make my point. Yet, I am considered a criminal. I am being persecuted because it was felt that the right of others to express their opinions was more legitimate than mine.

Does India not realise how immense the suffering must be for an individual to renounce her most deeply-held beliefs? How humiliated, frightened, and insecure I must have been to allow my words to be censored. If I had not agreed to the grotesque bowdlerisation of my writings by those who insisted on it, I would have been hounded and pursued till I dropped dead. Their politics, their faith, their barbarism, and their diabolical purposes are all intent on sucking the lifeblood out of me, because the truths I write are so difficult for them to stomach. How can I—a powerless and unprotected individual—battle brute force? But come what may, I cannot take recourse to untruth.

What have I to offer but love and compassion? In the way that they used hatred to rip out my words, I would like to use compassion and love to rip the hatred out of them. Certainly, I am enough of a realist to acknowledge that strife, hatred, cruelty and barbarism are integral elements of the human condition. This will not change; and how can an insignificant creature like me change all this? If I were to be eradicated or exterminated, it would not matter one whit to the world at large. I know all this. Yet, I had imagined Bengal would be different. I had thought the madness of her people was temporary. I had thought that the Bengal I loved so passionately would never forsake me. She did.

Exiled from Bangladesh, I wandered around the world for many years like a lost orphan. The moment I was given shelter in West Bengal, it felt as though all those years of numbing tiredness just melted away. I was able to resume a normal life in a beloved and familiar land. So long as I survive, I will carry within me the vistas of Bengal, her sunshine, her wet earth, her very essence. The same Bengal whose sanctuary I once walked many blood-soaked miles to reach has now turned its back upon me. I am a Bengali within and without; I live, breathe, and dream in Bengali. I find it hard to believe that I am no longer wanted in Bengal.

I am a guest in this land, I must be careful of what I say. I must do nothing that violates the code of hospitality. I did not come here to hurt anyone’s sentiments or feelings. Wounded and hurt in my own country, I suffered slights and injuries in many lands before I reached India, where I knew I would be hurt yet again. For this is, after all, a democratic and secular land where the politics of the vote bank imply that being secular is equated with being pro-Muslim fundamentalist. I do not wish to believe all this. I do not wish to hear all this. Yet, all around me I read, hear, and see evidence of this. I sometimes wish I could be like those mythical monkeys, oblivious to all the evil that is going on around me. Death who visits me in many forms now feels like a friend. I feel like talking to him, unburdening myself to him. I have no one else to speak to, no one else to whom I can unburden myself.

I have lost my beloved Bengal. No child torn from its mother’s breast could have suffered as much as I did during that painful parting. Once again, I have lost the mother from whose womb I was born. The pain is no less than the day I lost my biological mother. My mother had always wanted me to return home. That was something I could not do. After settling down in Calcutta, I was able to tell my mother, who by then was a memory within me that I had indeed returned home. How did it matter which side of an artificial divide I was on? Now, I do not have the courage to tell my mother that I have been unceremoniously expelled by those who had once given me shelter, that my life now is that of a nomad. My sensitive mother would be shattered if I were to tell her all this. Instead, I have now taken to convincing myself that I must have transgressed somewhere, committed some grievous error. Why else would I be in such a situation? Is daring to utter the truth a terrible sin in this era of falsehood and deceit? Is it because I am a woman?

I know I have not been condemned by the masses. If their opinion had been sought, I am certain the majority would have wanted me to stay on in Bengal. But when has a democracy reflected the voice of the masses? A democracy is run by those who hold the reins of power, who do exactly what they think fit. An insignificant individual, I must now live life on my own terms and write about what I believe in and hold dear. It is not my desire to harm, malign, or deceive. I do not lie. I try not to be offensive. I am but a simple writer who neither knows nor understands the dynamics of politics. The way in which I was turned into a political pawn, however, and treated at the hands of base politicians, beggars belief. For what end, you may well ask. A few measly votes. The force of fundamentalism, which I have opposed and fought for many years, has only been strengthened by my defeat.

This is my beloved India, where I have been living and writing on secular humanism, human rights and emancipation of women. This is also the land where I have had to suffer and pay the price for my most deeply held and fundamental convictions, where not a single political party of any persuasion has spoken out in my favour, where no non-governmental organisation, women’s rights or human rights group has stood by me or condemned the vicious attacks launched upon me. This is an India I have never before known. Yes, it is true that individuals in a scattered, unorganised manner are fighting for my cause, and journalists, writers, and intellectuals have spoken out in my favour, even if they have never read a word I have written. Yet, I am grateful for their opinions and support.

Wherever individuals gather in groups, they seem to lose their power to speak out. Frankly, this facet of the new India terrifies me. Then again, is this a new India, or is it the true face of the nation? I do not know. Since my earliest childhood I have regarded India as a great land and a fearless nation. The land of my dreams: enlightened, strong, progressive, and tolerant. I want to be proud of that India. I will die a happy person the day I know India has forsaken darkness for light, bigotry for tolerance. I await that day. I do not know whether I will survive, but India and what she stands for has to survive.

From an undisclosed location, India

Re: # 9

#9 posted by izuber

Sorry dear that I took you as MQM Matarwa.

But what else does your concern only with Karanchi indicate?

#8 Posted by teshah
-------------------
You are what you speak, I have nothing to do with MQM but based on the poison you spew I think I should consider looking into MQM.
In as much as Punjabies are concerned you really don't represent the majority of them that is unlike you polite & cordial, while you definitely smell like the hoodlum class which believes that might is right thus you should remember that "every dog has his day" and so you & people of your hoodlum class will too.
It wont be out of place to say that people of your level of speech should be considered for a permanent ban from all forums, the given discussion/thread is about the lack of power supply for Karachi while the entire country is not being discussed shortage v/s total failure are two different things, but, what a person of your caliber knows other than inflicting obscenities, too bad I can't bring myself to a level as low as yours, however there are more than your type of people who know how to carry on a conversation with civility.
It is the non-existence of civility that has encouraged corrupt governments to rule over Pakistan and to rip off nation's resources and wealth, and it is the same lack of civility that disqualifies prevalence of democracy in Pakistan.
I am all the least concerned about Kala Bagh Dam since I have no serious knowledge of the proposed project neither am I looking for long-term plans in future to solve shortage of electricity since the need is now & here.

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Pakistan had a top economist as the finance minister and then as prime minister. During his eight years he did not add a single megawatt of power generation capacity.

The fundamental problem with pakistan is the stupidity of the educated. It is not the poor that is the problem, it is the educated, the ones who make generations planning, energy planning etc. All of wapda and kesc are run by military men, and all that they are interested in is making money.

I read some where that they imported locomotives from china, they are of a heavy type and they cannot run on present rail tracks. Now the tracks have to be changed. The underlying factor is that all of the paki decisions are made based on who can provide credit, and none based on the needs.

When the educated of pakistan are stupid, like YLH, all that he posts is that gandhi was a racist. Here is the case where a man so much full of TNT cannot see the out side world, and if YLH is a lawyer in pakistan, one can only imagine what others are like.

Nothing can practically work in Pakistan, at least not as long as we have dung filled heads.
According to certain analysts WAPDA restricted KESC from producing/generating electricity and under some written mechanism imposed this condition. Evidently WAPDA wants to make money at the same time not a believer of free enterprise that is the superlative degree of being mean & selfish beyond being capitalistic.
As more comes to light it appears that WAPDA is one of those entities that wishes to see the city of Karachi dependent upon it's unreliable self.
It is time for KESC to break any such agreements and take it responsibility on it's own shoulders to generate abundant power for the people of the city it has taken responsibility to supply.
This failure to supply power is not only affecting residents of Karachi but it is also taking a toll on the businesses which points towards some other hidden agendas that may be simmering to bring Karachi to it's knees.
On the other hand since the unfortunate even of BB's assassination in Pindi there has been multiple fires in Karachi specifically many industrial installations in Karachi have turned into ashes.
Does this sabotaging quietly point towards the fact that certain entities cannot see the progress Karachi has made over the years, doesn't this say that there is a smell of witch's brewing?
Enough is enough, it's time for Pakistanis to act like Pakistanis and stop envying each other, its time to stop all these undermining activities against Karachi and it's resources and take pride in Pakistan as a whole.
The status that Karachi bears since inception of Pakistan cannot be removed by such terrorist like activities, Karachi is the backbone of Pakistan, it is the central nervous system which should not be subjected to such negative actions by few who wish to maintain control.
The agendas of a decade ago should not be renewed and implemented in attempts to handicap Karachi and by making the life of it's citizens more than miserable, the plans that were previously implemented to move the port of Karachi to Sargodha dry port was not practical before and it will not be practical now and if such policies are implemented in the long run it would not only hurt Karachi and it's citizens but will also adversely affect economy of entire country which will not benefit anyone and everyone will come out to be a loser till another Musharaf is born to take over the power and bring things under control.
It would be wise to discontinue all negative efforts and work together in a reconciliatory environment. It is a universal truth that when people join hands together they can achieve much more but to achieve the wedges from in between must be removed and those who are raising the slogan of reconciliation carry the burden to act in a manner that spells reconciliation. It is also a known fact that the nations that quarrel amongst themselves come out as the biggest losers on the face of earth.
It's high time that each of us examine ourselves and exercise mutual regard in co-existence, like flowers of various colors and scents co-exist in a garden otherwise our path is full of stones and thorns as it is.

The energy crisis is about to get worse as Summer comes. We really need to get our act together.

#3 hamidm: so, you changed your "rising sun" to "half-assed"?

.... another half-ass 'revolution' in the making :

ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf has admitted that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Zardari was in touch with him. He was talking to an eight-member delegation of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) led by Ch Shujaat and Pervaiz Elahi at the President’s House late on Sunday night, party sources told Daily Times on Monday. They said PML-Q leaders talked to the president about the problems they expected in future, but he assured them that the new government would not trouble them.

In our city during pre-WAPDA days there was a small power house called ‘Bijli Ghar’. It supplied electricity without any ‘load-shedding’ because it was run on commercial basis, giving connections only within their capacity to provide power. Then came the WAPDA which made the entire distribution system rampant with corruption without considering their limitations of power capacity. The corrupt politicians further aggravated the situation by granting electric connections on political basis but preventing at the same time construction of new dams to increase the power capacity of WAPDA’s national grid.

As it is we are stuck in a rotten state of affairs with no hope of any improvement whereby every institution even the religion stands abused and corrupted.

Being nontechnician I have question about power generation

1. We have millions of people and (combined with oxen )looking for job. If people can work for hours and pull big rod and move around circle with large diameter like wind mill energy can be produced without making big pollution, and not much capital will be required. And best can almost elliminate transmission losses as we can have such power plants in small villages . They can be supplimented by cow and buffolw dung gas plants, which i put long back in one small place and working at model level.

2. Why not produce elecricity by hydropower when demand is low. Instead of run off water damn it and use as pump storage at night and doing pass and take out energy for peak time. Problem with power is like road , they are empty most of time and congusted for short time, same way with power if pump storage used do not have to add huge capacity.

First idea is more practical .