PPP Mourns, Karachi Burns

The situation in Karachi, and in fact most of Sindh, is very volatile at the moment. Reports of sporadic violence keep shrouding up. Firing, arson, rioting and pelting. These are common words, now into the 5th day of the assassination. There is a complete standstill. Shops are closed. Pumps are jammed or closed. People’s lives are under threat. It is a complete paralysis. Colleges, schools and universities are being kept shut. Shops are mostly closed, are being made to close, or the few brave ones are resuming life from under the shutter.  There are water shortages in various parts of the city. Business is off. There is a controversy going on over the cause of death and the lapse of security between the PPP and the Government, with the latter at a very weak and sensitive position. External pressures keep growing. What the hell is the government doing? Should I take one conspiracy theory to be true that there are elements within the Establishment who are involved in the assassination ? The perhaps the Chaudry’s should be held accountable ? That perhaps the ex-General has outlived his usefulness for the thinkers of Capital Hill ? 

Till when will PPP mourn, till when will they allow miscreants to make use of the situation, to take advantage and further shower misery over the people of this country. We have already suffered huge amounts of losses. Factories have been burned. Hospitals have been targeted. Billions of rupees worth of damages have been inflicted. Not to mention the loss of many lives. What is the use of all this? Will this bring Bhutto back to life? NO! In fact it goes against Bhutto’s ideals of ‘DEMOCRACY is the best REVENGE’. What the hell happened to that? This is not Democracy. This is purported anarchy and organized terrorism.

Leave her soul to peace. And leave the rest to peace. The ongoing violence is a result of a lack of effort from the top elite of the party. YES. I am saying that. The Government has already done all it had to bring on problems by creating confusions over things they shouldn’t have. But the PPP must come out, strongly and urge their supporters to stop this violence. They must ask them to stop this non sensible aggression towards the harmony of this nation. Why are you making the common man suffer? I hold you all responsible. I am sorry for the loss of BB, but this is inexcusable. And everyone in charge should be held just as much to sword as the one in the hot seat right now.

LET NORMALCY RETURN TO US!

Bilawal “Bhutto” Zardari : The New Face of PPP

Whilst cars burn, pumps lock up or are made to lock up much like the hundreds of other shops and banks which have been the target of an outburst of emotions and sporadic violence since the assassination of former PM Benazir Bhutto, the PPP unveils the new one.

Asif Zardari in a press conference from the ancestral home of the family announced that BB chose Zardari as the successor to the PPP throne, and he in his wisdom handed that down to Bilawal “Bhutto” Zardari. Bhutto ? I think it should be very apparent and very clear as to why the Bhutto was added. Currently, as things stand, I can’t see a united PPP under anyone other than a Bhutto, even if the Bhutto is just a figurehead so to speak. The only viable route was Ghinwa and Fatima, the child of slain Murtaza Bhutto. But for reasons that everybody except fool founded good hearts know, a reconciliation between Ghinwa, Fatima and the PPP doesn’t seem all that apparent as long as Zardari is there at the helm. Wadi Bua tou gone, but Zardari still pretty much there, as it would be pretty much running the party. He is now perhaps one of the more powerful men in the country, more than he was.

Thus the adoption of the Bhutto name to the children was a strategic move to maintain the power base of the family through the party, and also, Zardari is cashing in on the effects this could have on him. Power wise of course. He is a shrewed man, and has played his cards well. I will not divulge into what his master plan might be. Honestly I don’t know, nor do I have any theories. But as things stand, Benazir’s Son is the Chairman of the PPP. Zardari is the CO-Chair, till his son is of ‘tender age’ and has much to learn in the way to politics. The rest.. are under his thumb more or less.

It’s now a time for the ex-General and the ‘Qatil’ league as Zardari put it, to be extremely vary. The press conference made it extremely clear that the PPP is out to get PML-Q. Bhutto’s letter to Washington, furthers that direction. Musharraf’s minions as it was put in the letter, might be involved, and if they are, they better head for the hills. The General must be vary as well, because he too might just get the boot now. This could easily be the blessing of the Uncle’s Mighty hands.

Well, as for Bilawal “Bhutto”, life has just only began in the fast lane. He is already being made the desi version of Prince William. He will continue his studies, complete them and then return as the ’savior’ of democracy, to whatever remains his father leaves. I sincerely hope that these new faces of the parties, when their time comes, are not as corrupt as this generation (excluding a very rare few).

“Benazir kee tasweer, Bilawal Bhutto Bilawal Bhutto”

Farewell to Wadi Bua – By Fatima Bhutto as published in The News

Farewell to Wadi Bua

Updated at

By Fatima Bhutto LARKANA: My aunt and I had a complicated relationship. That is the truth, the sad truth. The last fifteen years were not one we spent as friends or as relatives, that is also the truth. But this week, I too want to remember her differently. I want to remember her differently because I must. I can’t lose faith in this country, my home. I can’t believe that it was for nothing, that violence in its purest form is so cruel and so unforgiving. I can’t accept that this is what we have come to. So, I must offer a farewell. One that is written in tears and anger but one that comes from a place far away, from the realm of memory and forgiving –- a place where at another time, we might have all been safe. As a child, I used to call my aunt Wadi Bua, Sindhi for father’s older sister.   When I got the news, I was told that something had happened to Wadi Bua. It was an expression I hadn’t heard or used in a very long time, when I heard it said to me over the phone I remembered someone different. We used to read children’s books together. We used to like exactly the same sweets –- sugared chestnuts and candied apples. We used to get the same ear infections, ear infections that tortured us and plagued us throughout the years. I have never before written an article that seemed so impossible. We were very different. Though people liked to compare us, almost instinctively, because well, they could. It is difficult for me to write about two people, one in the present tense and one in the past, at the same time. Especially when one person’s passing makes the other one wonder whether there is a cusp to things and whether or not there really is a past and present to life. I never agreed with her politics. I never did. I never agreed with those she kept around her, the political opportunists, hanger-ons, them. They repulse me. I never agreed with her version of events. Never. But in death, in death perhaps there is a moment to call for calm. To say, enough. We have had enough. We cannot, and we will not, take anymore madness. I mourn because my family has had enough. I mourn for Bilawal, Bakhtawar, and Asifa. I mourn for them because I too lost a parent. I know what it feels like to be lost and left at sea, unanchored and afraid. I mourn for the workers of the party, those who have been bereaved of their own loved ones in this tragedy. When congregants gather in a church, temple, or mosque they offer prayers for those that reside beyond. The congregants sing to the heavens and they offer the divine their hymns of sadness and hope. There are no hymns consisting of frustration or anger –- this too shall pass, they say, remember that. What hymns do we sing now? In those hymns, there is hope encapsulated in the sadness. There is a lingering sense that after darkness a dawn will rise. What then do we have to be hopeful for? And how do we proceed to wake the dawn? I have always been honest with you, I promised that to you at the beginning. Honestly, I am at a loss. I am compounded in a state of shock. I am in shock because I have yet to bury a loved one who has died from natural causes. Four. That’s the number of family members, immediate family members, whom we have laid to rest, all victims of senseless, senseless killing. I was born five years after my grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s assassination. I was born into the void of his absence and for my father, Murtaza, I was a new chance at life. I grew up hearing my grandfather’s speeches, watching him on old black and white video cassettes, enamoured at his every word. My father was a young man when his father was killed and it was something he carried with him every second, every minute for the rest of his life. I was three when my uncle Shahnawaz was murdered. I remember Wadi Bua sitting with me and telling me stories while the rest of the family was with the police. When I was fourteen, my life was ended. I lost my heart and soul, my father Murtaza. I am and have been since then a shell of the person I was. I suppose there are cusps in life, and thank god for that because that way we can stay in between. And now at twenty five, Wadi. But this isn’t about me, it’s about those whom we have lost. It’s about the graveyard at Garhi Khuda Bux that is just too full. I pray that this is the last, that from this moment onwards we will no longer have to bid farewell too quickly. . Wadi, farewell.

Pakistan : Another Bhutto Laid to rest; Turmoil across the nation

Benazir Bhutto, was buried yesterday, next to her Father and her brothers. Dawn’s headline yesterday was most fitting,
“Garhi Khuda Bux awaits another Bhutto”. Quite fitting of the tragic line that this family has. Line of destiny some might say.

However, now is not that hour of going over that line again and again. All respect for the dead of course. And I again emphasize as I said in the last post, personal opinion is one thing, but for a national leader to have died under the circumstances in which Bhutto died, is quite another.

The updates have been flowing like fresh water from a stream. The government, and the doctors in charge of Bhutto’s revival efforts, have held separate press conferences. They both indicate that BB suffered a single injury to the head which was not the cause of any bullets, or any shrapnel. It was apparently caused because BB was trying to go back inside the sunroof of her car, after someone opened fire on her (but missed) and while she was in the process of going in, the bomb went off, and the shock wave of the bomb pushed the sunroof into her head. Horrifying. However, today’s Dawn, carries a news item in which the Personal Aide of Benazir has said this story is a lie. I wish not to get into it any further. I feel, the main thing here is that Benazir died, as a result of an attack on her, no matter what the ultimate technical cause of her death was. It was a targetted killing and an assassination.

Coming to the second revelation of the government in their press conference. An intercepted communication between Baitullah Mehsud and his compatriots from the northern areas. This communication pointed towards the succesful operation, and the congratulations upon the death of BB.

Again, horrifying in the implications. The Government is giving proof that this was indeed an assassination that was carried out by Al-Qaeda. Will this be an entry ticket for the UN to request Pakistan to allow a Multi Lateral or Multi National force to enter , and operate inside Pakistan to tackle the Pakistan- Afghanistan border area which is much cause for insurgency problems ? Even if they do, will Pakistan be open to it? Will Pakistan’s people be open to it, given the highly volatile and emotional people that we are?

These are all questions that only time will answer. Other concerns are also towards the up coming elections. Nawaz Shariff reading the situation has realized he is a lost cause. He has thrown in the towel, using the assassination as a slur towards Musharraf and boycotting the elections. He came on Dawn News and very openly condemned President Musharraf as the criminal behind the scene. He came on live TV , for the world to see how the political players of this country even in the darkest hour will use the situation to further deteriorate matters.

Our nation isn’t far behind in that. I am of course not talking about all those who stayed at home for the past 2 days, or those unfortunate souls who were stuck in traffic only to be looted, robbed or attacked by raging supporters or criminals who were taking advantage of the situation. A lot of damage has been inflicted since the death. Factories, Hospitals, Trains, Cars, Shops etc etc have been burned and pelted and looted. What will this achieve ? Will it bring her back to life? Will it miraculously bring the criminal in front of them ? NO! It will only create more problems. It will allow indecent criminals the opportunity to continue to act as the mobs and make use of the situation in stealing, looting, and robbing. Mind you there were reports also of Females being harassed. These reports were that females in a certain neighborhood were being attacked, their clothes being torn, and that too in the open streets and public. A very sad, and very demoralizing reality.

 

What’s more distressing is that, throughout the nation, the country and the major cities, while this was all happening, the security forces were proving to be inadequate in size and number. The police were insufficient. The rangers were immobilized in some areas. Hence now, the army has been deployed. Is this moving towards an emergency till the elections or rather till the decision on elections can be taken ? Who knows.

PPP, I still feel, have gotten a huge sympathy vote for themselves in the bank. But who will be the new face of the PPP? Makhdoom Amin Fahim ? Aitezaz ? or maybe a reconciliation with Ghinwa Bhutto and Fatima Bhutto to ensure that a Bhutto remains at the stead of the PPP ship. Again, only time will tell.

In the meantime, we must pray, and we must hope and most importantly we must stock up our supplies from wherever we can. Important Note: We searched 10 shops today, all were out of the most basic supplies, mind you these 10 shops were the brave ones to be open. A majority of the shops remain closed.

Pakistan Zindabad

Benazir Bhutto Assasinated

As if 2007 hasn’t proven to be shocking enough for Pakistan all around, the biggest hit was waiting the year end.

Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was assasinated today evening in a suicide bomb and shooting incident. The incident so far points to a targeted killing. She has previously served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan twice. She follows her brothers in a line of being victims targeted attacks. Her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged in charges of crimes against the state. He was the Prime Minister of Pakistan who was deposed by Gen. Zia-ul-Haq.

The news has as should be expected spread violence through out the nation. The supporters of the PPP have come out on the streets in rage and in agony. Turmoil is gripping Islamabad and Karachi for example where people are firing and setting buses and other things ablaze. There have also been reports of the National Medical Centre in Karachi coming under intense pressure as fire was set around it.

In other reports as seen on television, PPP workers have vent their rage and agony against especially the PML-Q, burning their party’s banners and promotional material.

This attack has come at a very sensitive time for Pakistan, apart from of course the fact that Bhutto has died, in the sense that it follows a very turbulent situation in the country. Political parties across the country were gearing up for the elections. Bhutto was addressing a gathering of her supporters in Liaqat Bagh, Rawal Pindi. After the address Bhutto was leaving the park in her car when the attack took place. Reports say that she was also shot in the neck and doctors at the General Hospital at Pindi ( where she was taken) died primarily because of the Bullet wounds.

Other PPP leaders were also injured including Sherry Rehman. Asif Ali Zardari and their children are on their way to the country now.

The next few days will be very tense for the country, as the repercussions will be expected to grow more intense amid fears of a back lash much worse then the turmoil already witnessed across the nation today.

These are very testing times for Pakistan. These are very testing times for President Musharraf to ensure peace in the country. The entire region is of course affected by this incident, this incident of horror, of cowardice and a great shock.

The US, UK, Russia, India, Afghanistan, China and Iran have all expressed their deepest concerns for the safety of the nation and have condemned the attack. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PML-Q leaders have both addressed the media in condemning the attack and condoling with the family and closed ones of Bhutto.

I pray, and urge all those who read this to pray, for at this hour of great and deep sorrow, it is our only hope. May Allah save us all. May Allah save this nation. But also , may the people of this nation be granted the courage and the wisdom and the rationality to save itself. Ameen.

A Tragic Loss: Gulgee 1926 – 2007

Gulgee was strangled along with his wife Zarine Gulgee and their maid in Karachi on the 19th December,2007. May he rest in peace. The world has lost a truly devoted artist.

The news of Gulgee’s murder is tragic, disturbing and angering. A very gifted mind and set of hands has been lost. Gulgee was a magnificent artist, and gentle soul himself. He was 80 years old , and anyone, be it out of enmity or a failed robbery attempt, or whatever, has to be a barbarian, to have murdered him.

The news gave me quite the jolt. I was disturbed. I was even more disturbed when I learned that the bodies were 3 days old. I was even more horrified by the fact that his son, Amyn Gulgee, lives in a portion right next to his parents, and failed to realize that there is no activity in his parents house. It was eventually him who discovered and called the police. But seriously, 3 days, right next door. Very disturbing.

He, is irreplaceable, truly an asset not only to Pakistan, but this world, to the world of art. It is true, that when someone’s time comes, it comes and nothing can stop it, for it is Allah’s will. However the manner in which he departed, or rather was made to depart is, very sad.

Your works, will always live on, you will always continue to be a Legend. You were perhaps one of the only very very few artists of whom I heard of, since my childhood, and whose work I admired, even when I didn’t take much interest in art. Thank you, for all you have given us to remember you by.

Red Rhetoric

3 losses in a row, a symbolic end to the premier league title bid, exit from the carling cup and a horrible tackle resulting in a red card for Mr. Peter Crouch. Things couldn’t possibly be gloomier for Rafa and Liverpool. Or they could be, the season’s just half way through.

Liverpool as always, started this season, with a line-up, a side, and a manager, looking capable of actually making the fact that they are part of the ‘Big Four’ count. However, rotation policies, inconsistent performances, wasted transfers, and what I would like to call a spineless commitment has led to yet another implosion towards being serious title contenders.

For all his achievements at Anfield, Mr. Benitez must now realize that the bosses are getting tired and weary of a lack of challenge in the domestic league, I mean, for a side which is England’s most decorated side, and yet one without the elusive ‘Premiership’ title, is just a smidgen too much for the fans and the bosses. A champion’s league title and 2 finals are just not enough to ensure that the Liverpool faithful will always love Rafa as their savior is near ridiculous, and impractical. And to compare the same for Wenge’s young gunners, is ludicrous. Wenger didn’t spend  25 million pounds on a striker, who then he chose to sacrifice to the ‘rotation’ policy. Neither did Wenger keep his main, influential player out for the same. Yes, I am talking about Torres and Gerrard.

For Liverpool’s fortunes to change, so must their manager. I think Rafa has run out his time at Anfield, and it will do them good to get someone more, umm … ’special’ perhaps. Who knows ?

For now, the much touted 4 Horsed race for the premiership is effectively down to 3, and may very well be 2 come Febuary ( if Chelsea succumb to injury, and international duty absentees : that is however not the manager’s own ‘tactical’ doing ). I personally being a Gunner, love the scenario. But loyalties apart, Liverpool’s team, especially this season, is built to win, but it won’t if it’s not utilized effectively.

All Hail Gunners!

Cross Roads

The mirror in front of him is slightly fogged. Mostly because of the steam that is around him. But also because the smoke that rises from beneath. His vision, is altered between reality, and flashes of a surreal past. All fragmented together by the day dreaming boy that resides within his soul. His body hovers a few inches above the surface of the ground which is the center of a cross road. 4 paths leading in 4 different directions, which are further divided by further cross roads.

 

His voice is overshadowed by those within him. They are not loud, or haunting as always, but surprisingly silent. They have a message, he can hear it clearly. But they have no sound. It’s like a muted code. Only meant for him, for his eyes, for his imagination. The message is crystal, his understanding is not.

 

Within these flashes of confusion, there comes a pair of innocent eyes, of a 5 year old. The kid looks familiar, the kid is in fact his own childhood. He has a ball in his hand. And he is staring the man with a deadly freeze. Nothing could move this, not even giants that are capable of moving mountains, not this moment. The man and his childhood. His childhood questioning his arrival at this cross road. Not after the ones that were past.

 

The confusion is co-existent with this multitude of clarity. It’s purpose is simple and single in nature. To unsettle the present using the past as the juror, and the future as the unforeseen victim.

 

Cross Roads of life can be that way. Your past haunts you. Your future scares you. And you present, your present is the villain/hero. Hero. That’s what we all need don’t we. Someone to guide us, to save us, to show us and to shoulder us. To give us a clear purpose. Without purpose, we remain on one cross road after the other. Our entire journey seems frazzled because of the premonition that each one has to offer.

 

Yet, we all still come to the same point. A man hovering over a cross road center.

Weird..

Has anyone ever felt like the people in your real life, could easily be converted into some sort of video game? Or some sort of fictional tale ?

Seems like it to me. Just another episode the ever lasting weirdness i know. But still. There are times, when you cease to want to see reality, or even fiction for that matter. And you just tend to drift into the very lovely world of day dreaming.

Usually a great form of escape from, both reality and fiction. Yes. You need escape from fiction at times to. You need a little bit of weird in your life. You need stuff that doesn’t make sense, and doesn’t have to. Stuff that you don’t need to answer for, or FIND answers for. Mind you, finding answers is one of the biggest , wildest, goose chases of the idle or the highly active minds. And highly active minds need rest from time to time. A shut down time if you will.

The weird, inexplicable, and utterly ridiculous and silly form of gibberish and babble and chain of thought is a good outlet. Like this entire post has been so far.

Sleepyhead i am

A sleepy head i am and a sleepy head i shall remain. But before that, we shall also realize that we all are sleepy heads. We are sleepy heads when it comes to improving ourselves. We all are sleepy heads when it comes to doing what is better for the whole rather than the individual. We all are sleepy heads when it comes to sense things that are going on which are bigger than us. We all are sleepy heads when we are required to think with our brains, and balance with our hearts. We all are sleepy heads when we think emotionally rather than rationally. Why I call you all sleepy heads ? Because you are all yet to wake, and yet to use your brains, your thought processes, your ability to think, you are yet to use all of these to a substantial amount.

Hence a sleepy head am I and a sleepy head are you.