Went to get my Passport on Saturday 25th June. The Passport Office in Saddar Karachi is open from 9:00 am till 2:30 pm, all days except Friday, when they close at noon. I got there at 8:30 am so I could be amongst the first in line. If you are male, you should definitely go early. They ushered us in at 8:55 am. There are two lines for men, one for ladies, and one for senior citizens (60 and above).

I got my new Machine Readable, RDIF-enabled Passport at 9:27 am. The famed “religion column” is on the Annotations page along with the previous passport number. The passport also contains a letter, sans punctuation, from the Ministry of Interior:

Â

You can collect a passport for an immediate family member as long as you have their original ID card and the all important TOKEN. Signatures at the back of the token are mandatory. The “brokers” outside charge Rs. 200 to retrieve passports. My poor mother has still not gotten her passport, even though it is ready. They have misplaced her datasheet (the printout with all her information and signature) and can’t locate it anywhere. They have looked everywhere, including at Awami Markaz. Why can’t they just print another copy?

Turned 31 (aaaaagh!!!) on the 20th of June. Had a Farid Ayaz and Abu Mohammad qavvali session to celebrate on the 19/20th and it rocked, despite the debilitating heat. My 4 requests were amazingly performed:

1. Ze Rahmat Kun Nazar
2. Teri Yaad Hai Mun Ka Chayn Piya
3. Khabar-e-Tahaiyyur-e-Ishq Sun
4. Aashiq Na Shuddi Jalva-e-Jaanan Che Shanaasi

Every year I give myself another year to make it to the cover of Fortune – somebody, PLEASE call them and tell them to come and interview me! I promise, I am a real entrepreneur, really!!

Good Morning Pakistan!!

LAHORE: GROOM LETS HIS FRIENDS RAPE BRIDE AS REVENGE …

In an act of revenge, a woman was gang-raped with the consent of her in-laws by three people on her wedding night in Dera Ghazi Khan town in central Pakistan, police said. Ghulam Hussain, the father of the victim Kaneez Kubra, said his daughter was married to Mujahid Hussain on April 28, as ordered by a panchayat (local jury) under the wani custom since her brother Abdul Majid had sexual relations with Mujahid’s sister Sumera.

After the wedding, Kaneez went to the groom’s home. Her husband stayed with her in their room till 11 pm and then left. Afterwards, Mujahid’s grandfather Shahroo Khan and his mother Mukhtar came in and told the bride that the wedding was just an excuse to exact revenge on Majid for outraging Sumera’s modesty. Mujahid then invited his three friends Muhammad Rafiq, Shabbir Muhammad and Abdul Majid Almani, who gang-raped the bride. The next day, Mujahid took her to the house of his friend Ghulam Mustafa, who also assaulted her.

On April 30, when Ghulam and other relatives arrived to take Kaneez back as per tradition, she related the story to her father. Investigation Officer Zulfikar Ali Qureshi said the police were making raids to arrest the accused but they had left the area and gone into hiding after the case was registered against them.

Comments from colleagues …

1. What concerns me most is it’s becoming ‘just another news’ these days … One of those that raises another what-are-we-becoming question … and then we’ll get back to work and will look for updates on what’s happening with the lady and her family and what the police are doing and what not … another lunch hour discussion topic.

Qs: What if the lunch hour discussion focused on what can be done?

Ans: Yes, but I get the strong feeling that the authorities are making sure whatever can be done is NOT done … do we really have a say? Will we be heard at all?

2. Don’t know what to say and feel; this is a barbarian act – what the hell is going on around us? Where is the humanity? Can we call ourselves “HUMAN”? I really doubt it. Can we do something about this? Can we set up a website to narrate these truths which don’t even make it to the so-called daily newspapers?

3. Oh god, my head is spinning and am feeling like I am going to throw up

My highly judgemental and possibly obnoxious responses

To Person 3: This is not about you.

To Person 2: Feel violated. Feel angry. Pissed off people change the world (Tom Peters). Those of us who are human can do our little bit. Yes, you CAN set up a website and although you have amazing programming capabilities, I’d suggest you expend your energies on research and awareness building rather than on building a site. Go to www.blogger.com and set up a new blog. It takes three steps. Speak up, write, say something. Document and archive news that does get published – at least it will serve as a resource for activists and journalists. Use the Internet and the momentum it can create for something more than helping corporations sell ice-cream and tea .

To Person 1: While I agree that the “authorities” ride rough shod over most things, do we actually say or do anything? To pre-determine that nothing can be said or done, or rather, that anything we say or do will have no impact is a total cop-out. What kind of impact are you expecting? Do you think that speaking out publically, or writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper, or marching for peace will put an end to global warfare? And if it won’t, does it necessarily follow that we should not bother doing any of the above and more? It is this attitude that has contributed to Pakistan having no civil society. Meray kucch karnay ya bolnay say kiya farq paray ga? Chorro yaar, kucch naheen badlay ga, yay mulk hee baykar hai. Macro-level, seismic change will not be visible for decades but “if we don’t change our direction NOW, we will land up exactly where we are headed”. Margaret Mead’s words, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”, are really cool to have as an e-mail signature, but it would help if people really believed in the power of one.

Iftikhar Arif – On Zia ul Haq’s Death

City FM 89 – how could you???????? It seems that cutting off content is all the rage these days. I can’t believe what they just did. I was waiting for Cloud 89 to begin at noon – Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is going to be on the show today (SWOOOON). At about 11:55 am, Mary Lou and Leon (I think) put on Stairway to Heaven. I wondered how the track would end by 12:00. WELL, IT DIDN’T. Yaar, khudaa ka vaasta, why put on a l o n g Led Zeppelin song, which you claim you haven’t played, ever, in the year that you’ve been doing your show, when you don’t have enough time left? So, of course, the ultimate rock anthem, Stairway to Heaven, got chopped off by a Telenor Time Check.

The show began with the Red Baron ticking Talha off for wearing shorts in the presence of the Mirwaiz who, in addition to being the Chairman of the APHC, is a religious leader.

Najam Shiraz is now singing “Hum Dekhain Gay”, after which a Kashmiri folk song will be aired, as a tribute to the mighty Mirwaiz. He has spoken 4 sentences so far compared to the Red Baron’s 18

“He is the man who CAN deliver” says Umar, about our General. What on earth is up with the General these days? Shooting his mouth off about Mukhtaran Mai in New Zealand, threatening to slap Asma Jahangir, and just generally “going berserk” in the words of the New York Times.

Excerpt from a News Editorial
“The truth is finally out. It was none other than President Pervez Musharraf who ordered the travel ban on Mukhtaran Mai, as he himself told members of the Auckland Foreign Correspondents Club. Wire services reported him as saying that he had placed Mukhtaran Mai’s name on the Exit Control List to prevent her from proceeding abroad, in an effort to protect Pakistan’s image. The President said that Mukhtaran Mai was being taken to the United States by foreign non-government organisations “to bad-mouth Pakistan” over the “terrible state” of the women in the country. In the same breath, he described the NGOs as “Westernised fringe elements” that “are as bad as Islamic extremists.”

Who advises this man? And, even if he has retarded, dim-witted advisors, has he stuck his own brain and morality into cold storage?
Uffff, there’s way too much Nokia advertising, mindless bantering, and bad remixes happening on the show. No tassalsul … more talk, less music, fewer interruptions, pleeeeeeeeeeeze.

Just learned that when his father, the Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq, was murdered, Umar was 16, and had to deliver the Friday sermon to 200,000 people at the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar. He said he was a typical teenager, not in the least bit bothered about what was going on around him and suddenly had to take on the responsibility of being the 14th Mirwaiz (Head Preacher).

“Paul Rand’s (1914-1996) stature as one of the world’s leading graphic designers is incontestable. For half a century his pioneering work in the field of advertising design and typography has exerted a profound influence on the design profession; he almost single-handedly transformed “commercial art” from a practice that catered to the lowest common denominator of taste to one that could assert its place among the other fine arts. Among the numerous clients for whom he has been a consultant and/or designer are the American Broadcasting Company, IBM Corporation, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.”

John Maeda

Thoughts on Paul Rand by John Maeda

Kiya baat hai …

Listened to an old Lok Virsa interview of Munshi Raziuddin yesterday – he was his usual naughty, wonderful self – he recited the above piece at one point during the extensive interview and I just wanted to share it.

Aaj TV/Kashmir Update
Aaj TV had promised to let me know when they’d air the Kashmir show again – they SMS’d yesterday to say that it would be on from 4:00 to 5:00 – my response was that the working class works at that time. Khair, it was good of the chap to let me know. Wonder what got left out as it was a two hour show.

After being bowled over by Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in Karachi, I was delighted to see an ad in Sunday’s Dawn announcing that Aaj TV would run a live transmission of the Kashmir symposium being held in Islamabad. UGH! Apologies for that hideously long sentence.

I spent about 15 minutes in a solitary corner of the house considering whether I should fly to Islamabad for two hours in the hope of meeting Yasin and the Mirwaiz. Aaj TV’s live transmission made me decide not to go. BAD MOVE. There are times in one’s life when it is unhealthy for better sense to prevail.

The live transmission was meant to begin at 5:30 pm. Several of us parked ourselves in front of the TV in anticipation … Until 6:30 pm, we were treated to the Sindh Budget Speech, mindless advertising, and YET ANOTHER SHOW ABOUT MEERA. I looked up Aaj TV’s number online and got on the phone. While I was on hold, listening to bubblegum music, Hameed Haroon popped up on the screen, and I hung up the phone.

The programme was delayed by an hour but Aaj TV did not think it was necessary to inform its viewers that something was up. They have a persistent ticker running at the bottom of the screen and any idiot could have typed in one sentence informing viewers about the delay. This is way too much to ask for, as in Pakistan, the consumer is the advertiser, not the viewer. When the show finally got off the ground, Professor Abdul Ghani Bhat and Yasin Malik were interrupted, mid-sentence, every few minutes, by the following:

1. SunSip Timechecks
2. News Breaks with several headlines and earth-shatteringly important announcements about Pakistan’s 18 member junior hockey squad (every single name was read out, s l o w l y), and something about PTCL’s ongoing saga
3. An Aaj TV logo animation
4. An Aaj TV exclusive presentation animation
5. Advertisements

The show ended abruptly after exactly 58 minutes. Aaj TV did not even bother to announce that the “live transmission” had ended. We kept sitting there like idiots, thinking that the drama that was now on air was merely a trailer.

I called “Recorder House” again, consumed with rage and asked to speak with the Head of Programming at Aaj TV, who of course, wasn’t in as it was a Sunday. Got connected to some juvenile character who said that he had orders from above, and that the satellite time had ended. Tough luck for all of us losers who tuned in to watch something meaningful and got nothing but grief. I ranted and raved until the guy finally handed over the cell phone number of the Director, Programming. Decided to wait till the morning to call him …

Did so at 9:00 am today. The Director Programming was patient and listened quietly. He said that he agreed with most of what I said but I was still fed some nonsense about the trials and tribulations of running a TV channel. My bone of contention is that there are times when you HAVE to sacrifice commercial interests to do the right thing. And forget the ads, there weren’t that many of them anyway … who in $!&@’s name decided that the 18 member hockey squad was more relevant than Yasin Malik talking about the Kashmiri freedom struggle? Why couldn’t the hockey news and the PTCL news have waited until later? THE KASHMIR TRANSMISSION WAS THE NEWS, DAMMIT. What better content could Aaj TV have hoped for? The Kashmiri leadership is in Pakistan on an historic visit – someone PLEASE explain to me, like I’m 5 years old, the logic behind Aaj TV’s disruption of their speeches, mid-sentence, every few minutes to regale us with “news” that every other channel was broadcasting? Yes, I know that Pakistani media is financed through advertising and I also understand that a lot of stuff goes on at a TV channel, and I also know that there are infrastructure constraints, and blah, blah, blah. What prevented Aaj TV from updating their ticker to keep their viewers informed, and from putting a stop to the internal Aaj TV adverts, and mind-numbing news, in the light of the ongoing situation? It is alarming that a heavyweight media enterprise could not respond in a more appropriate manner. TV stations should not run live transmissions until they can learn to handle less than perfect circumstances.

UFFFFFFF! The answers, as usual, are blowing in the wind …

A couple of days ago, I received an invitation from the Dawn Group of Newspapers to attend a symposium on Kashmir. Leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) are on their first, “historic” visit to Pakistan and were to address Karachi’s “intellectuals” within the confines of the Sheraton Hotel.

I used to be one of those “25 year olds” that Hameed Haroon, CEO of the Dawn Group of Newspapers, referred to yesterday. I looked at the invitation and thought “what a waste – why bother with this on a working day”. References to our “Kashmiri brothers” and yearly holidays to celebrate “solidarity” with the disputed territory, have caused exasparation and I used to wonder why we expend so much energy on the Kashmir issue.

Yesterday, all that changed. I ended up going to the symposium and it was one of the better decisions I’ve made in my life. Kashmir, for the first time, became real. It was the same old story but it was told by the actual protagonists – the people who have watched Kashmir shed red hot blood for decades. Dr. Eqbal Ahmad’s article, Kashmir – India’s Nemesis, is a good 101 on the history of the conflict.

Yasin Malik was the hero of the day. A victim of years of brutality and torture, deaf in one ear, and barely able to walk, he stood proud, dignified and defiant. Yasin said, “when two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets crumpled. When two elephants make love, it is still the grass that gets crumpled”. He urged us, for once, to get off our intellectual high ground and be “stupid” for it is the stupid who go against the current.

Yasin began his freedom struggle in 1984 at the age of 18. Having been beaten mercilessly, intensely interrogated and thrown into every jail in the valley, he took up the gun. In his defense, he says, “I came to the conclusion that there was no space for a non-violent political movement.” Yasin is now the Chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and an Executive Member of the APHC. The JKLF is a nonviolent movement struggling for the independence of Jammu & Kashmir and a just and sustainable peace in South Asia. In 2002, in a bid to silence the voice of Yasin, the government of India accused him of blatantly false charges and put in place a new draconian law – POTA. The law allowed the Indian government to hold Yasin Malik without trial or hearing. Over 100 Indian police officers used naked force to arrest Yasin Malik while he was addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Kashmir. Yasin Malik now suffers from chronic health conditions as a result of previous torture and imprisonment.

It’s easy for us, who watch from the sidelines, to condemn Yasin Malik and his colleagues for losing faith in peaceful resistance. Nothing is so black and white and convenient.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Chairman of APHC’s moderate faction is merely 28 years old and has a magical aura about him. WOW!! He said “we desire to be citizens of the United States of Kashmir and we want India and Pakistan to give a free hand to the Kashmiri leadership to come up with new proposals”. It is the first time that the Indian government has allowed Kashmiri leaders to visit Pakistan. The Mirwaiz also stated that he did not want to take the bus 20 years down the line and wanted to fly to New Delhi, Islamabad or Tashkent, clearly hinting at the future status of Kashmir. Apparently, the Internet is his hobby and he wanted to become a software engineer but the assassination of his father threw him, prematurely, into politics and religious leadership.

An extract from a Rediff interview:

Coming back to your combined role as the Mirwaiz and the Hurriyat chairman, has there been any conflict between the two?

No, not at all. Our politics, like I said, is not the politics which extremists or other political parties practice. It is not a politics of vote. It is the politics of the destiny of a nation. And as such, my politics and religion are one and the same. What I preach as the Mirwaiz is what I practice as a politician. Our struggle is based on justice, we are on a righteous path. So there is no conflict.

There was one major problem with yesterday’s symposium. There were very few young people there. Kashmir is inextricably linked with the history and future of the sub-continent and Yasin Malik’s and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s appeals were addressed to an insignificant group. The jaded, “me-too” activists, politicians, and elite of our society don’t give a rat’s ass about the people of Kashmir, or about anything for that matter. All they are interested in is global acknowledgement that Pakistan has suffered along with the Kashmiris, that Pakistan has fought wars in the name of freedom for Kashmir, and that the collective Pakistani heart beats in the same rhythm as those nameless, faceless sufferers in the valley. Where were the students, the youth, the “20 somethings” who could have been inspired into action by Yasin and the Mirwaiz? We have no heroes to look up to and dusty volumes chronicling the exploits of Jinnah just don’t cut it for us. Fiery speakers like Tariq Ali are not welcome or safe here and Dr. Eqbal Ahmad is dead. The organizers may have been concerned about safety – but how could a bunch of kids have posed a threat to people who have experienced nothing but oppression, violence and destruction from the time they were born?

In June 2003, the Economist published an article entitled Women – Be a Man. Someone sent me a copy of the article and I remember being disgusted by it. Was going through ancient e-mail, looking for something, and came across my response:

Why should we be like men? Economist, for all its good stuff is also a highly chauvanistic magazine. The outrageous title was followed by “Men compete harder than women. That is why they do better at work”. OK!!!! Define “better”. Who sets the benchmarks and the yardsticks? Men! Why should we accept them? I am not saying this just for the sake of being rebellious but look at the world we live in today – a world that has been shaped by men – it’s a melting pot ruled by semi-evolved, macho bullies. The competitive streak that you strongly believe women should inherit, will lead to a fundamental change in what makes women, women. If the 21st century is the century of the woman, why must we play by your rules?

Any discussion about competition has to take into account Early Childhood Development and the gender biases that set in from the time a baby is born. Pink clothes and dolls for girls and blue clothes and guns for boys. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles start creating the mess when they often unknowingly/inadvertently set children up against one another, getting them to compete for all sorts of things ranging from love to lollipops. It’s pretty frightening.

Competition has infiltrated every aspect of our lives; school, family, sports, business … success is inevitably achieved at the expense of another’s failure. Of course women should demand what is due to them but this can be done in many ways. Our institutions need to be restructured in a way that competition is replaced by cooperation. According to the American dream – competition is the only normal and desirable way of life but actually, it is counterproductive – poisons relationships, fosters anxiety and takes the fun and magic out of work and play. It does not build character and self-esteem and in fact makes people highly insecure.

Here is a link to an unpublished article I wrote a couple of years ago:
Competition – The New Fanaticism …