Dina Wadia Claims Jinnah House re YLH 104

Good retort...wasn`t Birla House once declared a sub-jail for Gandhiji?

BTW Yasser, I take it your email address has changed? Need to send you something.

On the Inside
Nothing against landlords (or landladys!) or feudals per se; some of them are rather delightful people (including yours truly). But defending the Sindhi feudal system...

Re article

Reminds me of the Ghalib line `Dil ke bahlane ko yeh khayal achcha hai`

Re NHK #9

Identical to the argument of Southerners pre-Civil War that slavery was actually a relationship of mutual benefit and the slave much better off than the factory worker of the North. Pity.

Still in Love The blend of real life metaphors and delicate nuance, all underlining actual human feelings, prompted me to check who on earth could do that. And so I go to the author`s link and, lo and behold, only a Karachiite can pull that off. That too a St. Joseph alumna (my aunt`s alma mater) with A levels in Litt--that says a lot.

Exceptionally good poems; I almost feel unworthy to comment on the verses. Perhaps in line with the soft agony described by Shehlah, another poet said well

`Meer, izhaar-e-mohabbat mey gaya ji tera
Hai nadaan, bauhat tunay chhupaya hota`

(I may have butchered the transliteration here partly because Urdu is not my native tongue.)

Remembering Maqbool Butt Re Mohar`s
``His dishonesty cannot be more outstanding``

That`s sheer nonsense. The gentleman has his faults like all of us do, but intellectual dishonesty or a lack of integrity is not one of them. Rather, such personal attacks belie a lack of confidence on your part in whatever argument you are attempting to make.

Remembering Maqbool Butt I largely agree with the thrust of the article: the keeping of India`s solemn pledge to the world community of allowing Kashmiris the right of a plebiscite. That said, as another interactor pointed out somewhat humorously, Pakistan`s advocacy of the said plebiscite would have carried some credibility had Pakistan herself been acting differently. I agree it is Indian Occupied Kashmir but please let us not call it `Azad` Kashmir on the other side. For all its having its president, assembly, and prime minister and what not, the `AJK` is Pakistan occupied and every candidate for assembly elections has to sign a pledge to promote the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan. He was probably exaggerating but not by much when my father, a former federal civil sevant in Pakistan, would joke that His Excellency the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir carried no more weight in the grand scheme of things than the joint secretary at the Northern Affairs ministry in Islamabad. Had Pakistan been a functioning democracy like India and Azad Kashmir really been azad, India may have been `shamed` into fulfilling its pledge.

None of that takes away from the fact that the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, its inhabitants, deserve the plebiscite they were promised. It is a beautiful place with decent, humble, and beautiful people. They deserve better than the thuggery of an out-of-control army and a fascist `freedom fighting` movement.

As always, the author has put forth his points in a historical context with the polish, poise, and principle of an upcoming luminary of the Bar which he is. Good job Yasser....keep it up my friend.

In Ukraine, a franchised revolution Another one of those sad lamentations of ex-bureaucrats bemoaning the crushing defeat of Communism and death of their darling Soviet Union. They`d clutch any anything to point out how glorious the communist times were. Pity.

The Real Blasphemy Let`s face it, Islam is a misogynistic religious tradition. At least in the form largely understood, interpreted, and practiced today. We can write volumes (as the author attempts) about how it is `Muslims` and not `Islam` that`s at fault. We can make speeches about how every religion has its bad-guy adherents. We can expund professorially about Islam having given women rights long before...blah, blah, blah nonsense ad nauseum. Islamic canon law (shariah) has the following provisions that even apologists cannot blankly dimiss:

1. A man can divorce a wife directly but a woman cannot divorce a husband directly (no, sorry but a `khula` is not the same mechanism here).

2. A husband can actually beat his wife (yes, yes there are various interpretations about whether it is a beating or tapping or admonishment but again the fundamental principle is there)

3. In criminal procedure (and many civil cases too), a woman`s testimony is worth half that of a man

4. A female non-Muslim captive, married or not, becomes the personal property of the state or her captor to do with as he pleases and it is not considered rape. Apologists defend the practice by saying that the woman has a protector and any child of such illicit union is brought up as a legitimate child of the father.

5. A woman cannot become an imam leading prayers.

6. A man can have upto four legal wives and several concubines. A woman is limited to one husband.

7. In cases of divorce, the father has ultimate jurisdiction over children, though the mother can keep them while they are young.

8. A Muslim man can marry certain non-Muslim women. A Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man.

Now please tell me that those provisions are that of a faith tradition that does not discriminate on the basis of gender.

Yasser Arafat: Twilight of a Warrior Re Nasah
``Palestinians will have thir own state -- now -- a gift from mr. Arafat who paid for it with his life..... ``

Is saadgi pe kaun na mar jaye Asad/Larte hain aur haat mein talwaar bhi nahin

One has to learn from you the art of hiding truth behind such nonsense. The fact is that Chairman Arafat was a murderer, terrorist, extortionist, and a pseudo-revolutionary coward. His antics set the cause he supposedly espoused by a whole generation at least. Not even those who passionately believed in the creation of Fatahland found it easy digest his penchant for killing atheletes, wheel-chair bound tourists, and airline passengers. And then to see him sing the praises of Mahatma Gandhi. His epitaph should be something like the line

Mar gaya mardud, na fateha na durood.

He should be thankful that his death was apparently normal as opposed to the taking outs of Gaza terror king Yassin and his mouthpiece Rantissi.

Well, one less mass murderer, a few dozen more to go. Heck where is the Golani Brigade and Mossad when you need `em....

The Aga Khan University-Examination Board: Does Pakistan Need One? Re #1 and others by the esteemed disciple of the Quaid-e-Azam

Upon some research you`l l probably find that most people who cry `educational apartheid` have their kids in American schools, O/A level preparatory institutions, the most expensive local schools like Habib Public, or even abroad. Any idea like Aga Khan EB threatens their kids` potential monopoly. Hence the diatribe couched in moralistic, socialistic, and anti-apartheid terms.

And anyway, if Qazi Husain Ahmad is opposing something it must be good and beneficial.

On a related note, I recall the famous line by the late Ambassador Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah that ``I cannot undertake the education of the Education Minister`` (the Educ Minister in the Liaquat cabinet Mr Fazlur Rehman was apparently was of the Qazi Husain Ahmad bent).

What Would Happen? Re hassansiddiqui 13

``Its power is derived from a strong support from US which is due in large part to economic power that Israelis wield. ``

It is this flawed assumption, and its corllaries, that has never allowed the Muslim world to understand why no amount of its money and screaming makes a dent against Israel`s strength. You can cry, scream, and pontificate on Jewish conspiracies all you want but the fact is that Israel is a pluralist democracy with a functioning judiciary, rule of law, and minimal constitutional guarantees. That kind of stuff sells in America and it makes a country strong internally. You want to fight Israeli influence in Washington, come up with an Arab country which has democracy, rule of law, and civil rights. Until then, forget it. Because every time you mention Israeli excesses, it`ll be plain to point out that there is only one country in the Middle East where Muslims and Arabs have the right to vote in pluralist elections, where independent courts are open for anyone to approach, and where Arab political prisoners are not locked without trial, incommuncado for decades. Guess what country that is.

The Rational Warrior Re Air Marshal`s

``For example, they justify India`s actions in Kashmir and USA`s actions in Iraq, even though, the populations of both areas, overwhelmingly consider these actions to be occupationary.``

And the Gallup poll was conducted by?

``Yet these same people argue that Bangladesh was an occupation and a freedom struggle, becasue Bengalis considered it so.``

On the other hand the wishes of the people of Bangladesh were expressed decisively in the general elections of 1970 when they returned a 98 % verdict for Independence. Your attempt to compare the three situations is rather desperate.

The Rational Warrior Very moving interview. Thoughts of a man who has matured with time and sees the world in a more philosophical manner. But it also reflects a trend that disturbs many from the Independence War generation.

As the freedom fighters of 1971 enter middle age, a very predictable phenomena takes place amongst some and that is they become more spiritual. Happened to fire-breathing nationalists like the late Major Abdul Jalil and Dhaka Mayor Sadeq Hossain and others. With this turn to Islam, some become Islamists, i.e. go soft on their former enemies.

With due respect to their service to the cause of our freedom, even today some of us are quite unwilling to join the chorus of ``let`s get along with our Islamic brothers``. Excellent relations, cooperation, trade, and strategic partnership with Pakistan, absolutely! Forgiving the Genocide of 1971? Not until a full, unconditional, and genuine apology.

2004: One Year Closer to Nineteen Eighty-four As usual, all of it comes down to Standard Format Left Liberal Whining (SFLLW). Bush lied, OBL was not great a threat, corporations are controlling everything, Israel is being cruel etc etc. Same was the case during the Cold War. When al-Qaeda is finished off like Communism was, the SFLLW will latch on to some other nemesis of the liberal democratic order. What a pity that so many talented people and brilliant minds waste their time regurgitating the same stuff while enjoying to the hilt the benefits of liberal democracy and corporation dominated free markets.

The pent up rage against George W Bush is almost reminiscent of childhood tantrums. He is so offensive to the SFLLW crowd precisely because he takes no nonsense from their idols-Castro, Saddam, Osama. He makes no apologies for being forthright about defending America. And, most offensive of all, he WINS! That rankles the SFLLW crows to no end.

As for comparing Hitler with George W. Bush, apart from its patent offensiveness (I am the grandson of WWII vets), it is beyond ridiculous. In Hitler`s world you wouldn`t have a CHOWK discussion on your article; the only discussion you`d have had would have been with fellow concentration camp inmates.

And yes, Bush is going to win in November and I`ll be proud of contributing my taxes to a new generation of space based anti-missile defense. And then, I hope it`ll be Iran`s turn. And then Syria`s--unless they mend their ways like old Muammar Gaddafi did.

A Case for Moderation re nasah 103

Another self serving post whose intellectual shallowness is aptly matched by its historical myopia. The same argument that was used by the so called America First crowd of Charles Lindbergh who proclaimed that poor Hitler was no threat to anyone.

Yes, Vietnam was lost but thanks to those sacrifices etched on the Wall, Communism was given a fight and contained within the Indochinese peninsula. Those sacrifices were the building blocks of rolling back Red totalitarianism in the eighties and, finally, Communism`s demise.

Iraq is free today and no amount of liberal-left hand-wringing can change the fact that Americans paved the way. Funny these folks never tire of second-guessing the success of freedom.

Twilight of a Passionate Love Affair echoboom baaz nahin ayega...article Canada or Amreeka ke identity ka comparison pe hai or hazrat phir say shuru ho gaye `Pakistan ka matlab kya`.

It never ceases to amaze me that people who have never had first hand knowledge of the Quaid-e-Azam and his lieutenants are so quick to portray him as some kind of a khalifa who created a khilafat. Jinnah was English trained, drank the good stuff freely, dressed in Saville Row suits, and probably wouldn`t let a nutcase maulana within his exquisitely appointed Malabar Hills bungalow. Poor guy died too soon or else the cancerous remnants of the Maudoodi-Mashriqi clan would have been, shall we say, `addressed` instead of being `blessed` by the thugs who followed in uniform.

My civil libertarian heart is tickled pink as I hear that in Uzbekistan apparently there is a new law that anyone with the following characteristics can be hauled in for questioning immediately:

1. Beard longer than _ inches
2. Excessive visitation of `un-supervised` mosques
3. Propagating religion in public

Wah bhai wah!

My Pakistan Diary: The Feudal re nakhok and Bengali leaders

My friend we both like Suhrawardy though it seems what little criticism you have of him (Suez crisis) is precisely one of the many reasons I like him more. Perhaps the only South Asian politician, an elected one at that, who openly defied the Arab-loving subservience of our ruler class.

Of course I did not mean to belittle Sher-e-Bangla. In his own way his greatness is no less than Suhrawardy sahib`s. Long before I was born, we had the honor of hosting him at our family residence both in Calcutta and, after partition, in Dhaka.

It was well said about the Sher-e-Bangla that when the `sher` of Bangla roared, even the mighty British lion listened in uneasy respect.