Crow's Nest...

The contest between PTI and MQM has been very interesting to me. The fact that unlike Lahore PTI has been able to win a National Assembly seat in the city of Karachi in itself is harbinger of some interesting and revealng news. Everyone is so ecstatic on the PTI wagon about breaking MQM monopoly in their own back yard. I will come to this later but the fact that PTI was unable to do so in Lahore is more telling of future that is to come. I think Lahore will now see the emergence of a different kind of PMLN. The kind that is built more and more on the work ethics of MQM. Anyone who resists will meet stiff and violent resistance at the hands of the overlords. I mean why is it so difficult for the PTI worker to win a seat in Lahore - Imran Khan's home town?  I think the reason Nawaz Sharif met with Imran Khan was different than what was broadcast. I think he had a message for Imran Khan that must have been a lesson for him in politics. I think there was an offer of truce in exchan...

Tahir-ul-Qadri is trying to rally Pakistanis to come out in his support and march towards Islamabad.  His million march started last night from the posh neighborhood of Model Town, Lahore.  He left in his bomb proof and bullet proof 150 million Rupee vehicle.  It is also reported that accompanying him in this march is his own palace like mobile home.  The home has been custom built to have a sleeping area, bathroom with own water supply, air conditioning, media outlets for entertainment and is bomb proof. I am astounded by the need of a so called mullah to travel under such heavy guard.  I am also astounded by the fact that he touts this as a movement of the commoner.  If he really believes in this then he should not need protection form this common man of Pakistan.  Yet whenever he speaks on stage a huge void and thick bullet proof glass separates him from his 'followers'.  His die hard fans who supposedly will do anything on his command need to...

I think most of the overseas Pakistanis today miss a reliable source if news that connects them to Pakistan. Sure we have multiple media outlets that are trying to make us believe that they do the most reliable reporting but this is not true. In fact it is the farthest thing from the truth. Whenever I watch a TV channel from back home or try to read a newspaper I am disappointed by the level of dismay, disappointment and self blame all the opinion makers suffer from. All I can read is the things wrong with the society. All of them want to profess they possess the ability to identify all the ills of our society. They are so enamored by the onslaught of the media war that they just can not see any positivity in the daze of their own negativity. One almost feels like distancing one from all the bickering, blabbering of these actors. These actors who for small amounts of money are committing a monumental crime by disillusioning this nation. I guess that fault is our own that we a...

The snow is falling yet again. There was in interval of time in the past one week when spring seemed to be a fulfilling reality; alas! no more. In the next 24 hours the white cover will engulf everything that had dared to raise its head from the snow dunes. Everything will be fresh and white. For some a delight and for others another torment. I belong to no particular group when it comes to snow. All I care about is my drive to and fro from work. If that goes smoothly there is no reason for me to be alarmed. While we are knee deep in snow in the north western part of the world the warmer climates are souring with the tempers of their inhabitants. From Iran to Senegal there seems to be a wind that will settle scores of counts in just one blow. The forefront of the change happening there is fancier than the real change. I am a reluctant believer. I see similar faces and similar cronies replacing older tired ones. Democratic struggle, it seems, has become a farce. People ar...

The past one week has been very unrestful for the people of Pakistan.  We have been turning and tossing either in the comfort of our sofas or on the streets about the developments that have transpired in the past seven days or so.  The developments are huge and the consequences will be huge still.  But should we not see how did this change of heart come into all of a sudden on Zardari's part.  I think the change of heart is not sudden in fact it is more planned and worked out and therefore will last longer than we think.  It will, for the same reason, be difficult for the people's resistance to trounce. As there were clear indications that Nawaz Sharif was feeling threatened by the present courts he decided to continue his struggle with the lawyer's movement.  Had he decided to do otherwise it would have been a political suicide.  He is in a catch 22 of a sort.  Zardari on the other hand is a product of NRO and feels threatened by any other cour...

Madam, - The World Press Photo of the year award 2006 was given to photographer Spencer Platt, who captured an image of four stylishly dressed young women and their driver cruising through the rubble of war-torn Beirut in a convertible. The photograph, not surprisingly, caused controversy. Nikola Solic’s photograph in your edition of January 2nd is equally striking, and will surely be remembered as an iconic image of the tragedy that is Gaza 2009. The image is of a group of young, clearly well-off Israelis, five females and one male, surveying from a hilltop distance an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip. One young woman is laughing heartily; another gazes languidly into the distance, and has a mobile phone glued to her ear; another, armed with binoculars, is looking, presumably, at a scene of devastation. An extraordinary photograph that narrates, even better than words can do, the attitudes of a nation. - Yours, etc, CIARAN COSGROVE, Glenageary, Co Dublin. ...

According to the BBC News, CIA is using erectile dysfunction drug Viagra to lure Afghan warlords into submission.  According to the news report they are meeting success with this tactic.  Afghan war lords seem to have insatiable sex drive that is only hindered by their inability to perform.

In these times of uncertainty the question remains, 'Shall there be war?'  The answer might not be that simple.  There might be but there will not be war.  One might infer that it is my desire and denial to disagree with all things apparent that drives me to make this statement.  But the case is otherwise.  There is an implicit understanding between the two neighbors that there can be no war for the better of the two and the best of one. I was reading the news article posted in Dawn about the recent incursion of Indian fighter/reconnaissance planes into our air space in two separate sectors in one day.  Our planes had to chase them out.  It was claimed by our information minister that it was a un-intended mistake by the Indian side.  I know all too well.  But i am not impressed.  The thing is very simple.  It is Pakistani government's necessity to diffuse tensions.  We simply can not afford a war on our eastern front when we ...

I was going through the pictures of the wedding ceremony of prime minister Yousaf's son in the president house.  I am not amazed by the pictures that I see.  to me Zardari is a lowly scoundrel who made it big time thanks to his wife Benazir.  He thinks like a small time businessman who has nothing on his mind but to negotiate and please every authority to get the perks that he lives his life for. But interestingly I was impressed by the pictures of the bride who looked too vain to be getting married in the president's house.  She, I am sure, will brag about this all her life and will not settle down on earth from the euphoria that she seems to be driving from it. This is an attempt by Zardari to get the prime minister at his side.  All corrupt leaders tend to gather support this way.  Zardari is no not unique in doing any of this.  But as the custom of the world dictates it will be his very own friends who will dig a deep whole for him one day....

The news is everywhere. Suddenly the condemned has become the master and everyone seems to be talking about him. Even the US local media is abuzz with the terrifying news of Zardari taking over the role of Musharraf. People are fearful and disappointed. I think they should not be. We must let go of our pessimistic sarcastic approach towards hardened and convicted criminals like our present president. After all we elected his party and voted for his men in every city and every province. We gave his party the power to nominate him. We voted for his party even though we knew he was the chairperson. So him becoming the president is a natural and logical consequence of our own actions and therefore we have no reason to be complaining about it at all. If he is a criminal and we know about it now then we also knew about it when we were all lining up to vote for him and his men. I remember the blogsphere being all abuzz in the immediate post election time with whiners proclaiming vic...

PML-N has decided to resign from the cabinet. They seem to have made the popular move and tried to win a larger vote bank from their natural opponents PPP. But is it really the case? I don't completely agree. Undoubtedly the decision is a popular move but it has been disconnected from the dictator. It seems that the independence of judiciary is an independent cause from that of independence from the dictator. PML-N has, in recent past, admitted to their inability to get rid of Musharraf and this will turn out to be a disastrous admittance on their part. I think the people of Pakistan supported the cause of independent judiciary more so because they interpreted it as a revolt against the dictator. In itself the stand of the chief justice, or for that matter that of 60 other justices, carries little meaning if it is not understood in the context of the person against whom it is being made. PPP, JUI-F and MQM are happy to play down the role of Musharraf in the public. All th...

Just a conspiracy theorist's thought: Can it be that Musharraf and Nawaz are working together to out do Zardari and the rest with the help of PML-Q. After all PML-Q is changing its stance on major issues drastically and an alliance between Zardari and MQM has been reached. Can it be that Zardari fears the chief justice because he thinks that he is a part of the alliance against him. This theory is far fetched but not completely absurd.

Lt. Gen. Mushtaq Ahmed Baig became a victim of suicide bombing in Rawalpindi. He was one of our kin, a medical doctor by profession. He was a healer; someone who everyone seeks when injured or dying. It is hard to believe that someone would consider him a villain in the larger scale of the politics. He was a doctor not a killer. True that he was a soldier but he was also a doctor. He was the surgeon general of Pakistan. I do not know him but his picture speaks of a gentleman who was pretty much innocuous and kind. Who would benefit from his death? Local Taliban have reportedly postponed their strikes till the new govt. comes into shape. So they in all possibility are out of the suspect list. Any political party has no interest in destabilizing their new achieved political power. So they are out too. A personal/domestic disagreement leading to killing through suicide is a far fetched idea too. On the other hand Al-Qaeda will want to destabilize the country so that they can g...

Fidel Castro has officially stepped aside from the seat of power that he so diligently clung onto for the past half century. His name has been so maligned by the western media that any mention of Cuba provokes an unwelcome image of Fidel with it in everyone's mind. We forget to see a country but instead are forced to see a man - who we are made to believe is - a dictator. But finally Fidel Castro is a thing of the past. He is behind the curtain and Cuba has something new to celebrate for - a new leader. Raul can not be termed a new face as he has been hanging around his brother, lurking in the power corridors, since the revolution in 1959 . He personally saw to the execution of anti revolution people in the years ensuing the revolution. But for that matter change is welcome as that is the only permanent thing to go around uninterrupted in this world and in this cosmos. My concern is the change in the relationship between Pakistan and Cuba. Cuba was one of the first count...

The HRW has released a report and an audiotape that contains the voice of Attorney General Malik Abdul Qayyum in which he is advising an unknown caller about massive vote rigging by Musharraf and PML-Q. The AG also advised the caller on what political party should the person approach to become a successful candidate for the upcoming elections. The AG's office has denied that he ever made any suggestions to this effect and speculates that the tape is fabricated. The HRW reports that the recording was made accidentally when Qayyum was giving a phone interview to a journalist but was interrupted on another phone by the unknown caller. If i can speculate Qayyum's brother is contesting this month's election on PML-Q ticket. In my mind the unknown caller was most probably his brother seeking advice on his future action plan. Here is the english translation of his conversation, Leave Nawaz Sharif (PAUSE).... I think Nawaz Sharif will not take part in the election (PAUSE).......

Especially after the death of Benazir Bhutto last year the use of the surname 'Bhutto', has become much more common place in Pakistan. There is Shaheed Bhutto, Bhutto legacy, Bhutto will, Bhutto chehlum, Bhutto langar, Bhutto boy and what not. I am sure like geo this word will start appearing on every nook and corner of the country. It is therefore my humble suggestion to the evil ' Bhutto husband ' to get this name patented so that he for once can earn some money that is not through corruption and coersion. In this way 'Bhutto husband' will be able to establish a business profile within his family whereby he can claim patent money from his 'Bhutto son' who has taken the name of Bhutto. Technorati Tags: Pakistan , Bhutto Powered by ScribeFire .

There have been conflicting news coming out of the country about Aitzaz Ahsan . He was freed for a stretch of 24 hours before being put under house arrest for another 30 days . It seems his freedom was not a result of any reconciliation on the part of the dictator but a constitutional necessity. the govt. is barred from keeping any Pakistani under undue house arrest for more than 90 days at a stretch. The dictator knows well that Ahsan knows the law better than any. so inorder to to circumvent this constiutional point Aitzaz ahsan was let go for 24 hours. The dictator knows very well that Aitzaz Ahsan can do a great dela of damage to his dictatorship if left out in the open. But for how long?

His Excellency The President of the European Parliament, Brussels. His Excellency The President of France, Paris. His Excellency The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, London. Her Excellency Ms. Condaleeza Rice, Secretary of State, United States of America, Washington D.C. Professor Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum, Geneva. All through their respective Ambassodors, High Commissioners and representatives. Excellency, I am the Chief Justice of Pakistan presently detained in my residence since November 3, 2007 pursuant to some verbal, and unspecified, order passed by General Musharraf. I have found it necessary to write to you, and others, because during his recent visits to Brussels, Paris, Davos and London General Musharraf has slandered me, and my colleagues, with impunity in press conferences and other addresses and meetings. In addition he has widely distributed, among those whom he has met, a slanderous document (hereinafter the Document) entitled: “PROFILE OF THE FORMER CHIEF ...