My Two Rupees

New Blog

2009-05-17T06:55:00.001-04:00

My Blog has moved to khawerkhan.wordpress.com

Its newer, better, faster

Revamp and relaunch.

2009-01-30T16:11:00.001-05:00

My Two Rupees will be undergoing a major revamp and relaunch very shortly.

THIS IS NOT A CONSTIUTIONAL EMERGENCY

2007-11-09T05:15:00.001-05:00

The Constitution of Pakistan enshrines certain fundamental rights.

The constitution however does have provisions which suspended some of these rights when a state of emergency is declared.

On the surface of it, this does seem to explain why some fundamental rights have been suspended...until you take a closer look.

The constitution of Pakistan enshrines certain rights as being of central importance to an individual.

These rights are given such importance in the constitution that after the preamble and the introduction they are the first matters discussed.

The right to life and liberty, safeguards against arrest and detention, the freedoms of movement, assembly, association and equality of citizens under the law are among the principles set down.

However, the framers of the constitution also felt it necessary to include provisions to suspend certain fundamental rights.

According to article 232 of the Constitution, certain provisions come into play if the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists.

Once an emergency is declared under Article 232, certain rights stand suspended.

The Freedoms of movement, assembly, association, profession, speech and the protection of property rights are suspended.

There are however some major differences in a constitutional emergency that may be declared by the President and the supra-constitutional state of emergency declared by the Chief of the Army Staff.

Under the Provisional Constitution Order the President may amend the constitution by just issuing an order. (compare to how else C may be amended)

And the list of rights suspended by the PCO are not the same as those that may be suspended under article 232.

The constitution does not have any provision to suspend Article 9 of the constitution, which enshrines the right to life and liberty. (what does this right entail?)

Similarly, article 10 has also been suspended in the PCO.

Article 10 provides safeguards against arrest and detention, grants rights of being informed why one is arrested, demanding a lawyer and a various other related rights.

Under a constitutional emergency article 10 may not be suspended.

Another Fundamental Right that is not suspended under a Presidential declaration of emergency is enshrined in article 25, the equality of citizens under the law. (unclear)

Unlike the PCO, article 232 does not suspend the entitlement of citizens to be treated equally under the law, and not be discriminated against on the basis of gender.

There are certain rights that would be suspended under a Presidential emergency by have not been suspended in the Chief of Army Staff’s emergency.

Namely the rights to conduct business and the protection of private property.

And while the constitution does have provisions to suspend rights such as the freedoms of movement, assembly, association and speech…there are mechanisms which add a balance.

For one unless a joint sitting of parliament approves the emergency, a Presidential emergency expires in two months.

There is also precedence for a Presidential emergency under article 232 to be challenged in the Supreme Court.

The PCO, however is a supra-constitutional document. And the current superior judiciary has taken oath under it.

__________________________________
The above is the text for a report on DawnNews. Independent TV channels are currently off air in Pakistan, except for those that have sattlites or high speed internet (see dawn.com and dawnnews.tv).

SUPPORT THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH!

YOUR RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH

2007-11-09T02:58:00.001-05:00

Support your right to free speech. Wear a black arm band every day to work until television channels are back on air, and the emergency is lifted.

WATCH DAWNNEWS on dawn.com

Traveling with a Presidential Candidate

2007-09-28T10:57:00.000-04:00

I took the same flight as Justice (r) Wahijuddin Ahmad to Islamabad on the 26th of September when he traveled to file his nomination papers for President.

I was on assignment covering the judge's movement for the news organization I work for.

I had the pleasure of sitting with the candidate on the flight and he drew my attention to this article.

If the journalist's sources are correct...well...just read it.

Of Technology and Faith

2007-09-22T13:46:00.000-04:00

The information age is also a fervently religious age. This is only natural when one considers that beliefs are, in essence, information in which trust or confidence is placed. Beliefs and technology are of course nothing new, both have existed at least as long as humanity has.

The relationship between technology and beliefs is a symbiotic one. One the one hand, beliefs and myth have always been a kind of fuel in our intellectual furnace. They have driven technology forward, wither one considers the impact of solar and lunar worship on calenders and astronomy, or our intrepid quest for immortality via cryogenic freezing, cloning and genetic engineering.

While studying the relationship between technology and religious beliefs, it helps to think of the evolution of cultural in terms of “selection of the fittest”. That is to say, that the ideas that are the most fit to replicate themselves are, very obviously, the most likely to survive. In such a study, the intellectual counterpart of a gene is known as a “meme”.

Consider the Wheel, one of the oldest and most significant technologies of human civilization. Aside from its very obvious socio-economic, cultural and military impact upon human civilization, the wheel also facilitated the dissemination of religious beliefs from one group to another. A group of humans that had mastered this advancement would dominate other groups in battle and trade. The afore mentioned group would carry with it's own religious “memes” with it and would inculcate the dominated group with them. Once the technology and “memes” had been successfully transferred, both groups would replicate the process.

It should come to us then, as no surprise that the ancients attached a spiritual significance to the Wheel. This is evident in their languages; for example the Proto-Indo-European word for wheel “kwekwlo”, found its way into Sanskrit as both “Cakram” for Wheel and “Chakra” as in nexus of metaphysical energy within a human body.

Jump forward a few millennia and humanity is awed by a new technology, the printing press. To an even greater extent than the writing system, the printing press facilitated the transfer of religious “memes” between groups. It also allowed groups with their own Holy Scripture to be more resistant to change. Befittingly,the first book to be published using a printing press was the Bible, while the first book to be published via the printing press in the Ottoman Empire was the Q'uran. Martin Luther, born 36 years after the invention of the printing press, made extensive use of this technology in establishing the Protestant movement. New technology often aids the “memetic” success of new religious movements.

The advent of broadcast technology, namely Radio and Television, made an impact on the religious landscape of the world. A 1991 found that 260 countries of the world received Christan religious broadcasts, 120 countries received Muslim religious broadcasts while 30 countries received broadcasts from New Religious Groups. The nature of broadcast medium lent it's self to organized religions rather naturally, a virtual pulpit with an outbound message for the faithful. Wither it iss an off-beat Televangelist from Missisippi or Junaid Jamsheed, the Television lends an omnipresent mystique to your otherwise average religious personality.

Fast forward a few more years and the population of the Earth (and in particular the kind of people that read Spider) has had it's Zietgiest experience a dramatic shift. The Internet heralded a brave new world, where the boundaries of time and space collapsed into the click of a mouse. The unusual aspect of the religiosity of this age, is the sheer number of ideas and beliefs available for adoption.

Because of the Internet, in the Information Age the relationship between religion and technology is incomparable in its dynamics. Each user can disseminate their own religious “memes” without the need of an expensive assets such as a printing press or a broadcast station. Instead of an organized model, with a pulpit and an audience, the interaction of religious “memes” on the Internet more closely resembles the chatter of a lively coffee house argument.

For religion this makes the Internet even more significant than the printing press, with new ideas finding a deeper resonance than before. To take one example, a popular “Islamic” website (I don't know if Spider wants to include the URL www.submission.org, my suggestion is to omit it) promotes ideas which Muslims would, almost universally, recognize as unislamic.

The website in question opposes the use of Hadith, even for contextualizing verses of the Q'uran. Furthermore it advocates the removal to two verses from the Q'uran, and the founder of this organization claims to be a Messenger of God. All this, while claiming to be “The Best Source for Islam on the Internet”. Based out of Arizona in the United States, the group has followers across the globe, most of whom had never heard of the organization before stumbling upon its website. One such convert even moved to Arizona from another State to be closer to the heart of this new found faith.

In addition to facilitating the promotion of heterodox ideas, the web also reinforces orthodoxy. A group of scholars, geographically located in and around Jordon manage a website known as Sunnipath.com. Their Internet savvy methodology for reaching an audience notwithstanding, they are a rather traditional bunch. Each one of these scholars has “received” their knowledge by very traditional means, spending years upon years under the tutelage of the preceding generation of scholars. They are proponents of “Taqlid”, i.e. Blind following, of the four schools of Sunni law. Their website has made a major impact, particularly for traditionalist Muslims living in parts of the world where traditional Islamic education is not available.

Other parties competing for the hearts and minds of the faithful have also entrenched their presence in cyberspace. Two related groups, the Salafi and the Wahhabi are particularly apt at using the Internet to forward their ideas. In addition to hosting sites like freequran.org, where one can request a free Q'uran delivered to one's door, there are a number of Salafi/Wahhabi sites where one can order free copies of their literature.

The propagators of religion use the Internet to in much the same way as they used the printing press, radio and television. The main difference between this technology and those that preceded it, is the sheer multiplicity of voices. They also use it to supplement and aid older models of “memetic” transfer.

Sheikh Nuh Ha Meem Keller is a scholar of “tassaswuf”, the practice of inner purification in Islam. As a traditional Sheikh he is charged with providing personal guidance to all those who take an oath and become his “Murids” (i.e disciples) . Sheikh Nuh happens to live in Jordon, while most of his Murids are spread across Pakistan, Jordon, North Africa, Europe, North America and the UK. They download regular lectures from his website (www.vasuhba.com) to supplement their weekly Murid meetings.

Traditionally the Murid would leave near his Sheikh, so as to be able to seek answers their mystical inquires. If not then one would travel to see their Sheikh when they had questions. Sheikh Nuh however receives the majority of his questions from distant “Murids”via email. He takes care to reply to each email personally using recorded audio files. Which does not mean in anyway that Sheikh Nuh should be classified as anything other than a traditionalist, merely because of the technology he choses to use. He uses the technology to augment the older methods of “memetic” transfer.

The propagators of religious “memes” have adapted well to new technology, but what exactly are the end-users of the information revolution doing? In other words, what impact is the Internet having on he religious lives on individuals?

A thirteen year old girl posted a short entry into the guest book on freequran.com. She is delighted about becoming a Muslim. This is her second day as a Muslim, but she plans to wait a few years before letting her “big big Christan” parents know about her conversion. She was exposed to Islam by visiting a website (muslimyouth.net) which put her in touch with young Muslims living around her. Her story is not atypical of converts to any religion in the information age.

If the thirteen year old girl continues down this path, she is likely to be looking for guidance about her new found faith on line as well. There are a number of websites, across the sectarian divide, which provide advice regarding religious questions such as worship and marriage. Even if she were living in a Muslim household, she would be likely to turn to the Internet to find answers for questions that would be too embarrassing to ask.

She would also be likely to make strong ties with other individuals in the same situation as her on the Internet. While Internet relationships may cause most of us to chuckle, epically in Pakistan where one often gets requests to “make friendship” on the Internet, for an individual who may feel isolated because of her views, online ties with kindred spirits would be very meaningful.

In her study into the subject (note to spider: see sources) , Elena Larsen, found that it is not at all unusual for 'religious surfers' to satisfy their divine curiosities on line. She found that of all the people she interviewed, those that were both religious and users of the web, 67% used the Internet to find information about their own religion. This group tended to be most religiously active offline as well. A somewhat surprising 50% used the Internet to educated themselves about other religions.

If one of these intrepid souls was to stumble upon www.godweb.org a few months ago, they would have found a rather peculiar Christan denomination; The First Church of Cyberspace, founded in 1994. The founder of the “Church” decided to give the website an overhaul, complete with colorful Googlesque logo and a non-denominational tag line (“Finding God on the Web).

The website is now dedicated to building interfaith harmony. For those who doubt that a website could achieve such a lofty aim, the founder Charles Henderson has a lot to say. He believes that “Not only is God found on the Web, God is the Web: the web of connections that ties all things together, things "in heaven and on the earth.”One wonders if in the generations to come, references to the world wide web would be common in humanity's spiritual lexicon.

One view point that Charles Henderson is opposed to, however, is Atheism. That viewpoint too has its champions on the Internet. Ranging from websites which offer refutations of theistic beliefs to those that offer support to Atheists in 'hostile environments', atheism too is alive and kicking on the Internet.

Atheists seem particularly well organized in releasing videos on the Internet, with one particular documentary by a British biologist garnering a lot of attention.

Atheism has been a suppressed viewpoint thought history. In most societies an Atheist would face social ostracism at best and death at worst. As with other marginalized groups Atheists have found a safe haven on the Internet, often networking with others on email and chat groups.

Chat groups are often used for reasons other than networking. Some users self identify as “full time proselytizers”. They have been whiteness to and the inspiration for the conversion of a number of individuals. Just as early technology promoted the easy transfer of “memes” between groups, the Internet facilitates the easy transfer of “memes” between individuals. In cyberspace, a preacher no longer needs to travel distances in order to propagate their beliefs.

The Internet is a groundbreaking technology and it is important to recognize the different ways in which it is making an impact on our religious behavior. Firstly the Internet breaks down time and space barriers to transfer of religious beliefs. Secondly the Internet allows a greater number of ideas to canonize, thus encouraging groups adopting such ideas to be more resistant to change. Thirdly it serves as an avenue for “meme carriers” to gather more information and sophistication, and last but not lest; it provides a platform for socializing for “meme carriers” which may be geographically disconnected.

Sources:

1.http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=53

This article was first publish in Spider a few months ago.

I'm back!

2007-09-22T12:26:00.000-04:00

I'm back! I was going to explain my long absence, but then...I don't think anyone ever reads this blog anyway...so whats the point?

I stopped writing blogs because I have resolving, what I thought was, a contridiction between my profession and my blogging. As a reporter I have to stay objective. But before getting a job at DawnNews, I created this very opinionated blog.

But now, I'm going to edit out all the slant and angle.

I will from now on use this blog as an avenue to report what I have not been able to report on DawnNews. Television reporters leave out a lot of detail. You have to when you get forty seconds to deliver the news or a minute thirty to tell a story.

Strange Email

2006-11-10T13:56:00.000-05:00

I don't usually bother to read, much less reply to mass forwarded emails but this one was too good to pass up. I have reproduced both the original email and my reply below.

Email:

NewYork mein Americans ne "KABA" k Design ka wine bar banaya hai,jis ka Naam "Apeal Kaba"hai.(Translation: The Americans have designed a replica of the Kaba in New York, which serves as a wine bar)Daily Express 17-10-06 Kindly spread this scrap 2 inform every Muslim, i reguest u 2 condemn this SHAMEFULL ACT Strongly thru all means & Media.Like internet,on Tv & on News Paper..... plzzz send 2 all Muslim

My reply:

In the interest of sanity,avoiding unnecessary moral outrage and hysteria; I should point out that the Daily Express not a reputable Newspaper, furthermore a site specific Google search for the Daily Express' yields absolutely no results.

Google this

kaba site:www.express.co.uk
Apeal Kaba site:www.express.co.uk
islam+wine site:www.express.co.uk

You will find nothing of worth.

I am using my valuable time, and intruding in your private space for a very important reason...to warn against falling prey to hysteria and hype. The world is not out to get us. Relax. I am beginning to think that we, as a civilization, suffer from paranoia. There is no dark secret room,filled with cigar smoking, blood sucking, conniving Jews conspiring to control the 'Muslim World'. The cigar smoking Jews have better things to do.

So please, take a deep breath and relax. The world may not be a very friendly place right now, but its not as bad 'out there' as it is our collective heads.

P.S Distrust anyone that types out “plzzz” instead of “please”. Unless they happen to be younger than 12. In which case you should just smile and pat them on their heads.

American Mullah: Ted Haggard the Hypocrite

2006-11-06T00:58:00.000-05:00

The first I heard of this American Mullah was an interview in Richard Dawkins' documentary "Root of All Evil".

In the documentary Pastor Ted, as he is known to his 14,000 strong mega-church congregation, supported the myth of “intelligent design” and suggested that “Islamicization” was the greatest issue facing Europe.

Forget Europe staking a claim as a counter-power to the United States, forget further political and military integration; the greatest problem for White Christan Europe, according to this American Mullah, is how Muslim women chose to dress and how Muslims chose to worship.

One must protect cultural fabric after all. Right?

Well as it turns out Pastor Ted is, in his own words, a “Liar and Deceiver”(1).
The Islamophobic man of God, until recently, refused to even debate alternative sexual lifestyles, stating that "we don't have to debate about what we should think about homosexual activity, it's written in the Bible." (2)

Pastor Ted takes the bible literally, and what the Bible says about homosexuality is quite shaking.

Lev. 20:13, "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltness is upon them"

So by Pastor Ted’s moral code, gays should be put to death. But big deal, he is entitled to his view. Right? While your blogger cannot disagree that Pastor Ted has a right to his view, he must point out that Pastor Ted boasts to have weekly access to President Bush. A phone call every Tuesday in fact.

But even that really no big deal, Bush needs all the political support he can get and there are many indications that Bush hardly takes the religious right all that seriously; even calls them “the crazies” when they are not around. He’s not about to introduce the death penalty for sodomy anytime soon.

The big deal here is, Mike Jones, a Denver based male-prostitute has accused Pastor Ted of having a decade long relationship with him. If that’s not bad enough, Jones claims to have sold Haggard a weekly supply of the illicit drug “Crystal Meth”. (3) One of the most dangerous and addictive drugs known to man, “Crystal Meth” is known to heighten sexual pleasure, especially among
gay men.

Pastor Ted is a hypocrite,that much is obvious to everyone. What is not necessarily obvious to everyone is what causes people like Catholic Priests, Aussie Imams (see my post), and American Mullahs to have such deeply hypocritical views on sexuality.

Sources
(1)http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-haggard6nov06,0,7806096.story?coll=la-home-headlines
(2)http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/06/04/groups_gay_marriage_issue_not_congresss/
(3)http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/05/haggard.allegations/index.htm

Women to blame for rape?

2006-10-27T03:14:00.000-04:00

The Mullahs are at it agian! This time its an Aussie Imam of Egyptian background, and much like his Pakistani counterparts, he blames women for rape!

According to this man of God, any woman that does not wear Islamic Hjiab is like 'uncovered meat' and is to be blamed if she gets raped.

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat,"

So in other words, what he is saying is that men cannot in any circumstance control their sexual desires!

This is rather similar to Pakistan's hudood laws which blame the victim for the crime. If a woman is raped, she must PROVE that she was raped, otherwise she is given punishmet for fornication or rape!

Unbelievably, the Sheikh feels that the punishment that was given to Muslim youth down under was too severe...

"It's she who shortens, raises and lowers. Then it's a look, then a smile, then a conversation, a greeting, then a conversation, then a date, then a meeting, then a crime, then Long Bay Jail, then you get a judge, who has no mercy and he gives you 65 years. "

A rather horny sermon don't you think?

Besides, how is 65 years for rape too severe? Under Islamic law you get death for commiting adultery, even it is with consent!

Since the Shiek admits that it is very hard for men like him to control their sexual desires, perhaps they should be given the treatment that he suggested for women in general, i.e. "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab [headscarf], no problem would have occurred".

Perhaps the Mufti of the land of Oz should be locked in his room, in his home, wearing a hijab (since it would be wise to castrate him to protect society from rape).

Musharraf Vs. Kakakhel

2006-10-23T17:44:00.000-04:00

The links below are a very interesting debate between Gen. Musharraf and a madrassa student Syed Adnan Kakakhel. The videos give an interesting insight into the minds of both the emotive madrassa student and the military dictator. While Kakakhel has great command over Urdu rhetoric, if you listen closely, his arguments are rather hollow. This is an identifying characteristic of the Pakistani far-right.
The second link offers an interesting insight into the mind of a military dictator. Understandably Gen. Shaib uses the “enlightened moderation” card to hang on to his khaki underpants. It is rather typical for a dictator to grab on to the prevailing zeitgeist and claim it as his own.

(Copy and paste)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=42zLsas1MH8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=445clL0nKBg&mode=related&search=

CNN is liberal media?

2006-10-23T16:57:00.000-04:00

Rightwing nut on "liberal" CNN!

I never really believed it myself, but there is a common misconception that CNN qualifies as liberal media. Sure it's editorial stance is to openly favor the Democrats over the Republics, notwithstanding the universally pro-Bush jingoism suffered by America since after 9/11 . That places CNN slightly to the left of Fox News. About two inches to the left of Fox.

It seems that CNN, just like most American networks, are very perturbed to be left behind by Fox in flag waving, xenophobia and open bigotry. 'CNN International' does not have this nut Glenn Beck on the air just yet. In the United States of Jesusland, however, 'CNN Headline' News has picked up this far right wing loonie and have given him a prime time show! How wonderful! Now CNN has a Bill O'Riley to call their very own!

The President of CNN Headline News, Ken Jautz, has described Gleen Beck as “self-deprecating” and “cordial” and went on to say that his show is “conversational, not confrontational”(1). If this is cordial and conversational, I wonder what CNN considers hostile and confrontational?

Perhaps by CNN standards, a Primetime host should have to openly broadcast his desire to kill people he disagrees with to be considered hostile? Or maybe even that is not enough. Consider this quote by Glenn Beck regarding the “documentary” maker Michael Moore: “I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out--is this wrong?”(2)

Yet as you will have noted in this video, he suggests that Muslims are too violent and too reactionary to even talk to!

If any other examples of his bigotry are needed check this one out

“you know it took me about a year to start hating the 9/11 victims' families? Took me about a year.... But the second thought I had when I saw these people and they had to shut down the Astrodome and lock it down, I thought: I didn't think I could hate victims faster than the 9/11 victims.... And that's all we're hearing about, are the people in New Orleans. Those are the only ones we're seeing on television are the scumbags--and again, it's not all the people in New Orleans. Most of the people in New Orleans got out! It's just a small percentage of those who were left in New Orleans, or who decided to stay in New Orleans, and they're getting all the attention.” (3)

If you want to drop this imbecile a line to tell him how you feel about his brand of bigotry email him: me@glennbeck.com

(1)http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2803
(2)http://mediamatters.org/items/200505180008
(3)http://mediamatters.org/items/200509090003

Open Office

2006-10-17T06:06:00.000-04:00

Found this wonderful alternative to microsoft office, called Open Office. Not only is it simply better in MS Office in many ways, its free and hence is a great alternative to the priated MS Office CDs that you find all over Pakistan. It has a bunch of functions that MS Office does not have. Besides microsoft really does suck, there is no denying that it writes extremely clumsy programs that tend to crash atleast twice a week.

So if you're sick of MS Office...go to
http://www.openoffice.org/index.html

Maybe I'll even build up the guts to swtich to Linux until I can afford a Mac.

Macs have gone down in price and are simply a better option than windows based PCs. I've even convinced my dad to get one.

Correction (PCB Cheif and AGP)

2006-10-14T06:10:00.000-04:00

Correction correction!

Just spoke to AGP, he has auidited NCHD. The report will be presented to the President /COAS/ Author at the end of the year.

My source regarding the the AGP not auditing NCHD in the orignal article was the satribute. Now the AGP has denied the allegations over the phone but he said the report will go to the President. According to the AGP website the President will in turn "cause" the report to be "laid" in front of the National Assembely.

Does anyone have any information about this? Has the National Assembely ever seen the reports on NCHD? I haven't had the time to research this yet but it would be worth looking into.

New PCB cheif's record more than a bit shady.

2006-10-14T03:52:00.000-04:00

The structure of the Pakistani cricket established is in utter chaos.After losing regular captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to a four match ban and stand in captain Younis Khan to a self inflicted demotion,a resignation by Shaharyar Khan the PCB chief has left on lookers shocked.

It is alleged that the patron of the PCB, Gen. Musharraf, was not happy with the crisis handling skills of Shaharyar Khan. Gen. Musharraf may have been upset about the handling of the Oval incident by Shaharyar Khan. The PCB chief was present at the Oval during the crisis and reportedly did little to broker an agreement between the Pakistani team and ICC officials.

On the other hand, Khan's successor, Dr. Nasim Ashraf was also present at the Oval during the incident is reported to have tried to convince the players to take the field.

Dr. Nasim Ashraf is a special advisor to Gen. Musharraf and holds the title of state minister. He is also the Chairman National Commission for Human Development and recently been decorated with the Sitara-e-Imtaiz. Dr.Ashraf is credited with designing and implementing a highly successful model of primary health care. It is claimed that his model has led to a reduction in disease and lowered death rates in developing countries. He holds membership in Amnesty International, The World Wildlife fund and the End Hunger Campaign, in addition to chairing various for Muslim organization in the west.

Not all is rosy when it comes to Dr. Ashraf however. The wife Dr. Akbar Ahmed, the former Pakistani ambassador to the UK, has written a letter accusing Dr.Ashraf of hijacking a joint project.

Dr. Ashraf, Dr. Akbar and the latters family had been working a film based on the life of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Mrs. Ahmed has accused Dr. Ashraf of trying to sell the film to an Indian accountant Mr. Singla and selling illegal DVD copies. She further alleges that Dr. Ashraf was using the project as a political platform, since he has added praises of Gen. Musharraf in the film. The plot seems to have been sucessful since Dr. Ashraf has joined the legions of Mushraff's blue eyed boys.

Dr. Ashraf also has a history of confrontation with the National Assembly. When Dr. Ashraf was appointed the head of National Commission for Human Development he had promised to raise US$4 billion from donors if the government provided US$2 billion.

Despite a unanimous vote by the NA to have the books of the NCHD audited by the Auditor General of Pakistan, only foreign firms of "international repute" have been allowed to conduct audits. This action is in breach of Pakistani law, which requires government commisions to be auided by the AGP. It is alleged that Gen. Musharraf personally pulled strings to make sure the audits don’t take place by issuing orders to the junior Finance Minister, Omer Ayub Khan.

Critics point out that the NCHD is duplicating the work of Education and Health Ministries, but without any government oversight of its funds. NCHD’s website claims a total expenditure of Rs.757.3 million, of which Rs.127.6 million went to Staff Cost. Due to the lack of government audit, it is not public knowledge how much staff the NCHD employees.

Cricket is big business in Pakistan with lucrative corporate sponsorships often landing in the hands of the PCB. Dr. Ashraf’s appointment as PCB chief is likely to raise controversy as facts regarding his finincial management of NCHD surface.

Load Sheding Blues (Part II)

2006-06-30T14:38:00.000-04:00

I had set out to write a blog entry on the power failures we have been experiencing in Karachi, when my writing was interrupted by…a power failure. Normally that would not have fazed me but it happened to be an unusually hot day, I later found out the hottest day of 2006 till date. If that was not bad enough, the electricity had come and gone and come and gone again around twenty times. So here is my second attempt to put my thoughts down.

What bothers me most about Pakistan’s lack of adequate electricity is that unlike other sources of energy, Pakistan is not disadvantaged in resources to produce energy from electricity. Pakistan is after all a nuclear powered nation. After defying the world and perusing the technology, at a great cost to the people of Pakistan, the state has failed to utilize it effectively for civilians.

The problem may be manifested in a symptom such as lack of electricity, 1971, ethnic strife, election rigging, VIPism, and lack of respect for the law, but the disease is still the same.

Like a cancer the military has kept up its unabated growth to the determent of other Pakistani institutions. This often manifests it’s self in outright absurdity, such as the otherwise traditionally civilian held positions in society such as leadership in national sports or cultural institutions, which have for long been under Khakhi domination in Pakistan.

In the Khakhi Republic of Pakistan the military’s needs and even its desires for fancy toys takes precedence of even the most basic of civilian needs. Necessities such as clean water, electricity, and an attempt at a modern infrastructure are considered nothing more than an idealist’s day dream.

Pakistan has the resources to produce enough electricity, at least for domestic consumption if not more, however these resources are being diverted towards the military.

In my next blog I interview one of the General Managers at K.E.S.C and ask him a few questions.

Now you see it now you dont!

2006-06-26T07:47:00.000-04:00

Blooger / Blogspot have been banned yet again! Perhaps the period of activity was simply due to the incompetence of the government employees put in charge of blocking the Blog.

Whatever the reason, today it is again impossible for Pakistanis to visit www.blogspot.com

www.pkblogs.com Zindabad!

Stay tuned for my next post where, electricty and God permiting, I will publish what I origanlly intended "Load Sheding Blues" to be.

Blog today...gone tommrow?

2006-06-23T07:08:00.000-04:00

Good news! The government has un-banned www.blogger.com again!

It had been un-banned once before for a few days , only to be promptly re-banned. Looks like the Khakis cant make up their mind about how to deal with Internet speech.

Nevertheless we should rejoice and enjoy our restoration of blogging rights while they last!

Load-shedding Blues

2006-06-22T11:57:00.000-04:00

Karachi! Can’t leave it, can’t use electrical appliances living in it! Us Karachites have been suffering electricity problems this summer the like of which we haven’t seen in many years. The authorities have decided to take drastic measures; shops must close by 8:00pm.

Now in cities like Lahore, or for that matter even in our Capital village “Isloo”, this would not be much of a problem. The culture there is much more laidback and shops generally close early anyway. In Karachi however most people lucky enough to be employed reach home around 7:00pm

What this means is that if you have any chores that you may have to tend to, you either have to give a “goli” at work and attend to them during work hours, tend to them right after a long days work or not tend to them at all.

All this in the name of saving damage to the Pakistani economy by making sure that our primary business city is not denied electricity during business hours. As draconian a solution as this may be, it has been grudgingly accepted by Karachites as the only solution that we can find in the short term. At least we can go about our business during the day with our productivity unaffected by constant blackouts, right?

WRONG!

Despite not having access to our local bazaars after sunset Karachi has been suffering… (Okay thank God I saved my work because the electricity failed again as I was writing this- THANK GOD FOR CRTL-S)….uhhh where was I?

Ahh yes, despite shopkeepers having a government enforced bedtime, we still have not seen a let up in regular, or should I say irregular, load shedding!

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This day alone I would estimate that the electricity has come and gone at least 20 times!

By now I am so completely livid beucase of the constant break downs that I cant continue to write this blog…but I think my point has been made.

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I need to find a cold glass of water and cool down and meditate on how fortunate I am that I have a generator at home and work. Most people in this city are not that fortunate.

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