Numaan’s Diary

Radio Pakistan Karachi’s historical building is crying for attention. This building is significant in many ways. It is not just another old building in the old town district of Karachi. It is a valuable library containing important historical speeches, performances by the maestros and audio archives covering the history of Pakistan. Concerned citizens are requested to take action, write to the Chairman of Pakistan broadcasting corporation and ask him to take proper measures to preserve this important cultural heritage.

There is so much discussion going on about the presence of Black Water in Pakistan. I never paid attention to all the sensational text messages, emails and news articles appearing every where about Black Water and their not-so-secret missions.

I love Dr. Awab Alvi. I think he has his heart is in the right place. I was really surprised to see that an educated, enlightened person like him would buy all these rumors about black water. I am not a very good writer when it comes to debunking the sensationalism and putting the things in the right prespective.I will try my best to stay focused and clear.

Before talking about Dr. Alvi’s post. I would like to share some simple facts.

1. United States and Pakistan are close allies in the war on terror. This means that the two countries collabrate and co-operate with each other to strike against terrorist organizations. This collabration and cooperation is on many levels and the exact details of it can not be made public by either government due to security concerns.

2. United States provides Pakistani government billions of dollars for development. United States donated the most amount of money and efforts to help during the earthquake in Kashmir and to assist Pakistan with Swat Refugee Crisis.

3. The two countries have a long history of working together and it had always been mutually beneficial for both of them.

4. When our government have such strong ties with the United States, it is no wonder that we allow certain liberties to US agencies to work on our grounds. For example we have allowed them to attack militants in tribal regions using unmanned bomber planes. We have allowed them to build significant intelligence infrastructure and this we did long ago when the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

I believe that it is not such a big deal that we allow US security agencies a certain freedom to work towards our common goals like exterminating the Pakistani soil of Taleban. Our agencies must keep a check on the activities of US agencies in Pakistan to make sure that they do not harm our national interests. We will have to cooperate because we are allies in a war and our economy is dependent on that war.

Now lets talk about Dr. Alvi’s post which is based on several rumors in media.

1. The video at the end of the post: shows no proof of any kind (video clips, photographs, documents) showing black water doing all these things such as harassing Pakistanis or blocking roads. There are many roads blocked by security agencies in Islamabad. You can just show an image of a blocked road and claim that it is blocked by Black Water security personels.

2. The presenter in the video is a woman wearing Hijab and she ends her monologue with the line that “Pakistanis should realize that the United States is their real enemy”. Its more like an extremist propganda speech instead of an analysis by a professional defense expert.

3. In this video the analyst blames that the Black Water is on a mission to assasinate Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. Do you people really believe that killing Dr. Khan has become so difficult for CIA that it had to hire a notorious organization to do the job? Do you really believe that such secret operations are carried out by renting houses openly?

3. Dr. Alvi requested people to help map black water in Pakistan. Perhaps Dr. Alvi forgot to watch the video he shared. The woman in the video told that Black Water has an office in Khayaban e Rahat which is not far away from where Dr. Alvi lives. So if Black Water are such bullies I think Dr. Alvi would have no trouble finding their offices and may be he will even get some shocking pictures as well. like Black Water munching french fries at McDonalds?

4. Dr. Sahab asks patriotic Pakistanis to help map and expose Black Water. How he is going to verify that the video or pictures or incidents reported to pakvoices are genuine?

I am not saying that there is no Black Water in Pakistan. I am simply saying that there is so much sensational rumors based journalism going on about things that are not important. We the patriotic Pakistanis should be more concerned about the crisis in Baluchistan, food mafia, water and power resources. These issues are the real security threats to Pakistan.

I strongly urge the Pakistani blogging community to please be responsible. There is very little difference between fact and fiction. Do not sensationalize things on your own. Get some documented proof or make sure that the sources you are referring to are showing some credible documented proof of the claims they are making.

Did you know that Isaac Newton was drinking a cup of tea when he discovered the universal law of gravity. I didn’t know until Lipton’s clear your mind website told me. I found this website from a pamphlet that came with tea packet. It had riddles and some interesting quizzes. Who doesn’t love riddles? Particularly smart people like myself who love answering questions like “which of these giant elephants is small?”

I loved Lipton’s new ad campaign. It is such a simple and fantastic idea to spread the message, to get noticed and to be loved by consumers by just asking them questions and telling them how smart they are, they should drink Lipton tea more often. The idea behind the campaign is based on the simple communication technique which is to ask intriguing and interesting questions. People love to be asked questions and they love to answer riddles so that they could look smart.

Lipton has given people a chance to feel smart by posting riddles all over the town on billboards, newspapers and posters. They have also launched the campaign on television and FM radio. Riddles are a great conversational tool, it is a wonderful way to get noticed and loved by people. People read Lipton ads carefully, then they answer riddles which makes them feel good about themselves and then they ask these questions to their friends and family.

So here is one for you:

The man who invented it doesn’t want it. The man who bought it doesn’t need it. The man who needs it doesn’t know it. What is it?

Try answering without googling, when you are done guessing then select the text above and google for it.

A few days ago local media issued a video of a Girl getting flogged by Taliban in Swat. The brutality in the video has shocked the country. The news of the video spread across the country and people from all walks of the lives has condemned it.

This never happened in Pakistan. For the first time, people in Pakistan are thinking seriously about the Talibanization of their country. This video has shown them the true face of the Taliban. People all over the country are scared and worried that if government talks to Taliban and allows them to impose their Sharia Rule in the Swat region then they will impose such brutal laws on poor people of the region.

There is also question about the legal status of the agreement between the North Western Frontier Province and local fundamentalists. An agreement that establishes a parallel Islamic Sharia judicial system in the Swat district. It is clear that such an agreement is not supported by the constitution of Pakistan. Which gurantees equal rights for all citizens of Pakistan. This agreement hasn’t been presented in the parliament and it has not been signed by President of Pakistan. I am surprised that our national hero Justice Choudhry takes a suo moto action against the flogging of the poor girl in the video but totally ignores NWFP’s government’s illegal negotiations with terrorists and allowing terrorists to run their own brand of judicial system in a district of Pakistan.

Yesterday several human rights organizations protested in all major cities of Pakistan(Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad). People chanted slogans against Taliban, against terrorism, against the so called parallel judicial system, against the criminals who flogged the girl and demanded that Pakistan Army must continue the operation against Taliban.

Today there is an even bigger demonstration in Karachi called by MQM. Last night MQM’s volunteers distributed black flags and palmphlets all over the city requesting people to join the demonstration and raise their voice against Talibanization of Pakistan.

Yesterday, I was listening to Jameel Yousuf founder of Citizens Police Liason Comittee talking on Geo news during the terror attack at the Police training center in Lahore. He pointed out immensely huge flaws in our country’s anti-terror security practices. First of all he pointed out that the building of this current terror attack had no security at all. He also pointed out that in our country security means ill-equipped policemen guarding installations or VVIPs. We do not have lack of technology to fight terrorism in fact we have total absence of technology in all our security measures.

He bitterly described how foreign aid to train Pakistani police is wasted due to corruption. How government has always failed to control arms trade from tribal regions. How government failed to fight against kidnappings for ransom in all major cities of Pakistan. According to him these kidnappings for ransom are a major source of funding for local terrorist organisations. According to Mr. Yousuf, implementing the police order 2002 (Police Order 2002 PDF) is a good starting point to improve law and order situation.

Meanwhile US government has claimed that elements inside Pakistani intelligence agencies are helping terrorists. Apart from US concern, we must think ourselves that how we can fight terrorism in these conditions? The world has taken immense security measures to fight terrorism. Now these terrorists have very limited chances of attacking United States or allies, or India, or Zionists. So this leaves us the only easily accessible target to terrorists all over the world. Whether it is Al-Qaeda, or Baitullah Mehsud or any other so called Jihadi organization. They all have their base camps in Pakistan and they can easily target people of Pakistan whenever they want.

The picture Jameel Yousuf draw during this talk on television is so horrible but it described things very clearly that how come Pakistan is so easily targetted nearly twice a month by these terrorist organizations. The government must implement police reforms, improve co-ordination among law enforcing agencies and take strict actions to block funding for terrorists.

I was sitting in the waiting room of a clinic at OMI hospital. The waiting rooms are all the same every where in the world. You can imagine the scene. There are not-so-comfortable sofas with a coffee table in the center and some magazines lying on it, a few elderly ladies accompanied by their daughters or sons, an elderly man looking at me preparing to start a conversation, doctor’s secretary on her desk wearing lots of make up and consistently chatting with her boyfriend on the phone. And me, checking the magazines that I would normally never read. My eyes dropped on an Urdu newspaper, it had the photo of a man with a stupid smile. I recognized him, He is Javed Chodhry a famous Urdu columnist who is popular for his emotional columns. He used to write for the Daily Jang the most popular Urdu newspaper but then he left Jang and joined the second most popular Urduy Daily, The Express.

I picked it up and started reading it. At first he talked about Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto that how he understood the US policies and realized that US is not a reliable friend. Then Mr. Chodhry tells us that Russia is giving the money and weapons to Taleban in Afghanistan and since Pakistan was a US ally in both Afghan wars, Russia is also supporting the Talebans in Pakistan. He builds his argument beautifully involves India and Iran in it too and it all makes sense until he writes which I translate below:

Our army has arrested people from tribal areas who are uncirumcised, eat meat of dogs and cats and drink alcohol.

I didn’t know that Russians ate dogs and cats. And how Pakistan army found out that these people eat cats and dogs? Were they having a party when Pakistan Army arrested them? Or these people later requested Pakistani forces to provide them fresh meat of dogs and cats? I don’t think that Hindus, Russians or Afghans eat cats or dogs. Why would they? and why would Javed Chodhry write such a foolish thing?

So I decided to finally go to the saloon and get my hair done.  The Saloon, well actually it is still an old fashioned barber shop but they like to be called “Saloon” nowdays. The one I go to is located near Hashmani Eye hospital near Old Numaish area. Just opposed the Imam Bargah Ali Raza, the one that got bombed a few years ago. This saloon is air conditioned, they are the experts but I really don’t care much about expertise or styling what I like about this place is that it is very clean. They use washed and dry towels for each customer. They use Phenyl to wipe the floor, and anti bacterial soaps for the staff to wash their hands. The place looks a lot like hospitals.  

I left home late afternoon thinking that I will be smart to reach there before Eid’s Chand is announced. The barber shops, saloons and beauty parlors get extremely crowded on chand raat. But during the whole Ramadhan such places remain deserted until the Iftar. So being the smart guy I reached there early, and then I realized that I wasn’t the only smart guy in the town. 

The saloon was full of people, there was no room to sit on the velvet seats in the waiting area. Instead of feeling awkward, walking from one corner to other, I decided to sit and found a place between a skinny memon teenager and a beefy pathan guy. The Pathan guy was wearing Shalwar Kameez, was smelling of onions and garlic, and he looked just like Taliban. May be he is a suicide bomber ready to attack the saloon where people get their beards shaved. According to taleban shaving your face is unIslamic. So they bomb the barber shops in Tribal areas of Pakistan. I checked out that Pathan guy once again through the mirror on the wall. I specially paid attention to his upper waist portion, this is where these suicide bombers wear the explosives belt. The Pathan guy had a huge belly, and it was obvious that there are no bombs inside his kameez, just the hideous gorilla sized belly. With his long beard, belly, fatness, and stinkiness, I wandered if he is married or not. If he is married what his woman thinks when he tries to kiss her. But then I don’t know if kissing is allowed in Taleban ideology or not. Women are the most weird of all species in the world. May be she loved him with all his shortcomings. May be she is more ugly and terrifying than the poor pathan guy. 

The staff at this saloon is very professional. They usually don’t waste any time, but there is no barber in the world who wouldn’t want to chat with his clients. I hate such barbers, and the question that I hate most is “What you do for living”? Once when I was in Islamabad and went to a saloon there the barber asked me this question and I told him that I don’t do anything. He wasn’t satisfied so he kept asking and finally I told him that I am a writer. This question is usually an ice breaker for these barbers so that they can initiate a chat about your career, then they discuss whatever is on the television mounted on the wall in all barber shops, then they discuss politics while shaving your chin with a hand on your throat, and finally reaching the agreement that Pakistan is totally fucked up when spraying your face with water. This barber then shared some of his Urdu poetry with me. I told him I have absolutely no interest in poetry at all. So he asked then what you write. I told him I write stories for children, articles for internet magazines. 

Ohh you write Omro-Ayyar and Ameer Hamza kind of stories? He asked me. Well I told you every thing you say to a barber is returned to you in form of another question. He was asking for my home address when he was giving my hair the finishing touch and I end up leaving the shop giving him not only my address but also my telephone number. 

So the staff here is no different from anywhere else, what I like about this place is that they have already asked me all the questions. But they can always bring the current affairs. There was a news report on television about people rushing to the markets to buy new clothes, accessories and gifts for the eid. They were showing women, one of them was telling the reporter about how things are so expansive this Ramadhan. She was 40+ and over weight like 90% other women of her age group. Her face was glowing, she not only spent thousands of Rupees and countless hours while shopping she also got interviewed by Geo Television. Wow, she must be feeling lucky, and may be concious too her make up had long been evaporated. I am sure her friends would let her know how old she looked during her 30 seconds interview. 

Every one, particularly men have an opinion about women. The most common is that they are all stupid. Watching this woman on television the owner of the saloon commented. “Aunti you should have prepared for eid before Ramadhan why you waited till the last days?” Then a client who was bored while waiting for his turn said something, then the pathan guy shared a stupid joke about stupid women. 

It made me think, that sexy guys with hanging jeans, the fat pathan, the staff, the owner, and the little boy who was wiping the floor, they are all the same from inside. May be I am the only unique individual in this place. But then after two hours when I finally got my new fresh look and was about to leave my seat I reached the agreement with my barber. We both, just like many others before us, agreed that yes Pakistan is totally fucked up. I realized that we are all the same We are the common men. What I didn’t like is that I am one of the common men. I should get my hair done at that gay hair stylist’s saloon at Peal Continental.

There is no better night in Karachi than the Chand Raat (night before the Eid day). The shopping and festive fever starts picking up the momentum since the first day of the Ramadhan. It reaches the peak during the last ten days and then the climax on the last night.

This is the time when nothing can stop Karachiites from going out and shop till the dawn. It doesn’t matter who occupies the presidential palace or who is getting bombed by Pakistan army. Inflation, food and energy shortages, terrorism, nothing can stop them from spending money and feel happy for themselves. They are truly brave people, as they work hard to live in the now and they know how to enjoy it. Of course they are worried about how they are going to spend an entire month without any money left. But lets just not think about it now, they tell themselves. Lets just concentrate on how we can knockout the salesman at the Kurta Corner.

I didn’t get much chance to survey the shopping areas this Ramadhan. No, I was not too busy fasting and offering prayers. I missed several fasts and I prayed once or twice each day. What I did during this whole month? Why I didn’t call some friends to come and rescue me? I am asking myself.

May be it was work, I have started another blog and made it compulsory for myself to come up with one post each day. Any one who blogs regularly would agree with me that it is difficult to come up with fresh ideas every day. Every thing that you thought worth blogging, has already been blogged. It’s a difficult path, each day I go through doubts. May be I shouldn’t have started this blog at all. It becomes more painful to come up with new ideas when you are in doubt. So I need to assure myself all over again. No this project is good, it has so much potential, look at the link backs they are not bad for a week’s blogging. Then suddenly an idea strikes me and I start constructing my post.

I go through this doubt, re-assurance and light bulbing every day. Its really exhausting sometimes specially when I have to keep up with all the fried goodies at iftar. I am not the kind of person who would leave all the food and rush to the mosque for maghrib prayers. I sit firmly on the dastarkhawn and do justice to each and every thing that is there for me to eat. Even when I am not fasting, I never miss an iftar.

I feel sleepy after iftar so I go out for a walk. I walk from DJ science college to the Pakistan Chowk, then to Civil Hospital, then I turn around and walk back to Aaram Bagh, then to Fresco chowk and back home. I love the buildings on this route. They were built during good times. Walking past them, I think about how these buildings looked when they were new? Who were the people that lived and worked there? How was the life back then? Why don’t people make such beautiful buildings any more? I walk past garbage, and I think there is no hope for this city. Its the filthiest in the whole world and nothing is ever going to change this. Then I see women in burqas, and I think that each day there are more and more women getting attacked by the burqa virus.

When I am back home from walk, I am tired. My body is just as fat as it was an hour ago when I left home for the walk, it is my mind that needs rest.

I sit back on my desk again, staring at my computer screen, downloading movies, listening music, reading blogs, chatting with friends. It’s all necessary. Thank God I don’t use facebook or orkut or other social media sites. I simply can’t. There is really no time for any new activity at all.

But I think I should go out and do some shopping. Or atleast, I should go to the saloon for an haircut. I look like Saddam Hussein freshly out of his cave.

My webhost provides an easy one-click way to install Wordpress. I love installing new blogs, but I hate the upgrade notifications. I am using wordpress since last four or five years and recently I noticed that updates are becoming more frequent. But now that I am using my webhost’s one click installer, I can easily update this blog with just a click. 

So now that I have installed the software, set up a blog, what’s next? First of all I would like to change the theme of this website. This is going to be a very personal place so it needs a very personal theme, something that is unique to this site only.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!