NAPA’s theatre play, Aasman Se Gira (2016), is adapted by Babar Jamal, assisted by Saddam Hussain and directed by Uzma Sabeen. The plot centres on an event manager’s decision, who invites a popular star to play the role of a traditional hero from the famous folklore, Heer Ranjha, for his grand show. The show is sold out. The play starts out great, but due to a few unfortunate mishaps, things do not go according to plan. During the play, there’s a scene where the dressing and makeup of the two main actors is almost identical. This hilarious moment is similar to Hollywood’s classic comedy film (belonging to the golden era) Duck Soup (1933) starring the Marx Brothers. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Saad Zameer Fareedi, Farhan Alam, Ahmer Hussain and Shumaila Taj.[/caption] The full cast comprises of eight performers in which Saad Zameer Fareedi plays Chauhan (aka Henry Saunders), Ahmer Hussain as Shaani (aka Max), Erum Ero as Maira (aka Maggie Saunders), Farhan Alam as Alam Rushdi (aka Tito Merelli), Zarqa Naz as Khanam (aka Julia), Najma Kifayat as Ronak (aka Diana), Shumaila Taj as Mehrunnisa (aka Maria) and finally Muhammad Owais Mubashir as Waiter (aka The Bellhop). The high points of the play revolve around the main stars (Farhan Alam and Ahmer Hussain) due to their memorable and untimely comic performances. I must say that Farhan’s character was quite new for me as he usually plays roles that are loud, dramatic, and serious. This time he delivered a highly comical performance as an iconic character, ‘Alam Rushdi’ – so iconic, in fact, that he may as well be remembered by this name rather than Farhan Alam. On the other hand, Zarqa Naz and Najma Kifayat gave impressive performances. Najma Kifayat as Ronak played a seductive role and reminded me of how Anne Bancroft tries to seduce Dustin Hoffman in the Hollywood classic The Graduate (1967). [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Farhan Alam and Najma Kifayat.[/caption] Actors with minor roles were overshadowed and, for me, that was one of the play’s biggest flaws. Before finalising an actor for a minor role, the producer needs to make sure the role is interesting and has humorous punch lines. If that isn’t the case, it would be a waste of time for an actor to even bother performing. The perfect example of this was seen in the Bollywood movie Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) – Akshay Kumar played the supporting role and I’m sure majority of the audience don’t even remember him being a part of the film. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Muhammad Owais Mubashir, Erum Bashir, Saad Zameer Fareedi and Zarqa Naz.[/caption] This time, the witty dialogues were less interesting than Babar Jamal’s previous play, Mere Samne Wali Khirdki Mein. Dialogues lacked comedy. Rather, it was the actor’s performance that made the play comical. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Saad Zameer Fareedi, Farhan Alam, Ahmer Hussain and Shumaila Taj.[/caption] It was great watching Erum Bashir perform on stage, but she did not do justice to her character, which is a shame considering she is a talented artist. I believe that actors should focus on improving the quality of the drama itself, even during comical situations. It would make the performance more powerful by instilling the element of comedy rather than delivering static punch lines for momentary bouts of humour. I’d like to thank Uzma Sabeen for yet another good play. Please do direct more farcical comedies. Keep working on improving them, along with Babar Jamal’s passion and determination, and I’m sure you would end up directing another outstanding play.

“The group of Obama’s running around and talking about meaningless sanctions until today is highly laughable.”

“Our security policies cannot be dictated by our non-proliferation policies.”

“Our big problem with Pakistan was their nuclear program. Although we still object to their doing so, we will now set that aside for the time being and concentrate strengthening Pakistan against potential Soviet action.”

Dear Coke Studio, I thank you for your efforts, for giving us some fine music yet again and bringing together the best talent in Pakistan. You are indeed a platform that makes us proud of our music. There are so many reasons why we love you and eagerly await your season each year. However, despite being a fan of your music, I couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied over the fact that you have completely neglected other provinces and their music in your latest season. Your biased attitude has disgruntled me. And it leaves me as a fan feeling like this gesture was in bad taste. I love Punjabi and Urdu music, but that’s not all. Sindh, Balochistan, K-P and Gilgit Baltistan also have some amazing music archives. They should be given equal importance when it comes to the selection of artists and music for your program. Therefore, you should have included a variety of music from all provinces, like you did in your previous seasons. It would have made you stronger by drawing in an even wider audience than it already has. I am eager to know why you didn’t include music from other provinces in season nine. I believe you can find good music in languages other than Punjabi. I know Coke Studio acts as a podium for artists to showcase different types of music. Despite the fact that there are already numerous singers that can sing in Punjabi and Urdu, singers who excel in their own language, from different provinces should have been casted to display their core strength. Take Abida Parveen and Sanam Marvi, who are celebrated Sindhi singers. Their Sindhi songs are world-renowned. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Abida Parveen
Photo: Coke Studio[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Sanam Marvi
Photo: Coke Studio[/caption] Sindhi songs could have been given to the aforementioned singers who would have, as we know, excelled in vocals combined with the incredible music produced by Coke Studio. This is only a minor example of how Coke Studio could have curbed season nine and by no means am I implying that only Sindhi singers should have been given a chance. It goes the same way for singers from other provinces. We have seen Akhtar Chanal Zahri, Gul Panra and The Sketches perform remarkably in previous seasons in Balochi, Pashto, and Sindhi. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Akhtar Chanal Zahri
Photo: Coke Studio[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Gul Panra
Photo: Coke Studio[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Saif Samejo fromThe Sketches band
Photo: Coke Studio[/caption] I am are not ready to accept that you couldn’t find worthy songs or singers that were fluent in other languages. Perhaps, this was the strategy for Coke Studio’s Season 9? Regardless, all three provinces are famous for their folk music, and have prodigious musicians, but it seemed that they were either neglected or the organisers of Coke Studio did not feel the need to include their music. In a way, you are doing what most major politicians have already done – giving importance to only one province. Music and art transcend boundaries, but you have disrespected the essence of art by excluding artists who represent other cultures. This attitude goes against its brand image. I do realise that Coke Studio has its head office in Punjab, but its fans, consumers, and customers are spread all over Pakistan. It’s our responsibility to ensure that some form of feedback is heard because it’s in the process of learning that we all grow. The purpose of writing this is to highlight this issue: we should embrace our country’s diversity. Furthermore, I sincerely hope that Coke Studio adheres to what it has stood for for many years; maintaining consistent quality along with the inclusion and integration of all provinces of the country. I hope that Coke Studio is more inclusive in the seasons to come. Best, An unsatisfied fan

Dear Indians, As someone whose recent family history is very much a consequence of partition, I am no stranger to the divisiveness of Pak-India politics. Despite a shared history and culture, we stand today as two nuclear armed nations that have fought three wars against each other. Hatred for the other is fostered in both countries – neither India nor Pakistan is innocent as far as propagating hyper-nationalist aggression is concerned, but this time around, it feels slightly different. This time around, your government, sections of your media, and sections of your civil society (in concert with the government) are behaving in an exceptionally immature and dangerous manner. They are committing themselves to positions that are harmful to regional stability and to the prosperity of both countries. In short, they’re making a mistake and they’re embarrassing your country. Here’s why: Kashmir Both your government, and to a worrying extent your media, are unwilling to accept the grave seriousness, and the indigenous nature of the Kashmir problem. Terrorist or freedom fighter, love him or hate him, Burhan Wani was an inspiring figure for thousands of Kashmiris. Remove yourself from the politics of it for a second and consider that at face value: a separatist who’s killing drew hundreds of thousands at his funeral, and thousands upon thousands on the streets for months after – that’s indicative of a serious underlying problem that your government is either failing to recognise, or worse, has recognised and is now foolishly trying to quell by force. They’re pulling the wool over your eyes by blaming the problem on Pakistan, and by labelling dissenters as ‘terrorists’ and the unrest as ‘Pakistan-funded’ they’re playing on your nationalistic sensitivities to divert attention from a very home grown, very Indian problem. The reason the bodies of dead protesters are being wrapped in Pakistani flags, the reason some Kashmiris support Pakistan against India in cricket matches, the reason that slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ are chanted in Kashmir is not because of some elaborate ISI conspiracy that’s now coming to the fore (as your media would have you believe). The reason is simple; the people in Kashmir, and especially the younger generation, are sick and tired of a 700,000 strong force that routinely beats, shoots, blinds, rapes and murders them. They’re sick and tired of living under occupation, under a law that is so draconian (Armed Forces Special Powers Acts or AFSPA) that it’s startling to me that anyone in India is surprised by Burhan Wani’s popularity. Kashmiris don’t raise Pakistani flags because there’s some mysterious ISI handlers coordinating it behind the scenes; they raise them because the world has been silent to their suffering, and because (for better or for worse), Pakistan is the only country that decries these atrocities and places moral support behind their right to determine their own future, especially when so much of their past has been robbed from them. Any Kashmiri who is my age (24) has essentially been born into, and lived their whole life under the AFSPA and has been witness to unspeakable excesses committed by the Indian Army after the Pundit exodus. If you have actually read the AFSPA and have heard about how the Indian Army has treated people, then it should come as no surprise why protestors take to the streets every single day, despite knowledge of the fact that they will be shot at with guns that could blind and/or kill them. Peddling the view that the unrest in Kashmir is Pakistan sponsored ‘terrorism’ is a deliberate strategy employed by your government to hide their own repeated failures in the region. It’s convenient, and it’s easily believed (because Pakistan has a bad track record here) but in this instance, it’s simply inaccurate. The indigenous nature of recent unrest in Kashmir is blindingly (morbid pun not intended) self-evident, and a direct consequence of the centre’s inability to reconcile with a rightfully aggrieved population. Please stop buying into the lie that the recent unrest in Kashmir is Pakistan’s doing because it’s short changing the Kashmiri people’s opportunity to highlight their plight. It’s making them guilty by association – when they’re really not. Uri The attack on Uri had barely wound down when your government/media started hurling accusations at Pakistan. This is not only dangerous, it’s pretty unprofessional from a journalistic point of view. What evidence? What markings? Food wrappers? Really? Is this the standard that ‘the world’s biggest democracy’ holds its press to? Your media/armchair strategists then took it one step further – they started talking about a ‘befitting response’ and ‘the whole jaw for a tooth’, ‘hot pursuit' and ‘surgical strikes’ and other nonsense to that effect. All of this before any kind of formal investigation into the incident had even taken shape. Please make no mistakes: this is equal parts stupid, dangerous, and delusional. Pakistan is a sovereign nation – any encroachment or direct attack on Pakistan will be considered (rightly so) as an act of war. Your ‘befitting response’ will beget its own ‘befitting response’ and before you know it, a chain of events get set off that culminate in nuclear war. And for what? Some political point scoring? So Narendra Modi can look like the tough guy he purported himself to be? So war-mongering Indian news anchors (who are honestly some of the most amusingly aggressive people I have ever come across) can finally be satisfied? I can almost hear them shouting ‘khoon ka badla khoon’ (blood is avenged by blood) or something equally Bollywood right now. Please, my Indian friends, do not be swayed by these embarrassments to the profession of investigative journalism. They’re mouthpieces of your government and their post Uri behaviour is telling of a level of aggression syndicated by your government that was/is independent of what happened in Uri – an aggression that is pre-planned and in-line with your PM’s decision to support terrorism in Balochistan. The kind of aggression that Pakistan has always feared and always prepared for. Nuclear war is no joke, neither is it some distant, far-off possibility in our fragile sub-continental context. Nuclear war is mutually assured destruction (MAD) of the worst kind. Nobody wants that. Not even you Mr Goswami. Come to think of it you don’t look like you’d be very comfortable in any confrontation outside of a shouting match, let alone a nuclear war. Balochistan Your PM has taken a position of open, overt, unapologetic interference in Balochistan and your government is now offering asylum to a man who is directly responsible for the deaths of Pakistani soldiers. Think about this for a second – this would be like Pakistan publicly declaring its official intent to fund and arm members of the Khalistan movement and then start offering them citizenship and hosting them on our talk shows. In Pakistan, we’re all aware of the fact that India has been funding terrorism in Balochistan, but when it becomes the official and declared policy of your PM it becomes a very serious problem. It’s akin to the difference between a situation in which you know your neighbour’s dog s***s on your lawn and you hate him for it, to a situation in which your neighbour makes it his Facebook status that his dog does in fact take s***s on your lawn, and that he intends on allowing this s***ting to continue unabatedly. The former, one can live with (albeit grudgingly) – the latter has consequences. Water Your government is now taking a position where it is signalling that it either intends on violating the terms, or unilaterally pulling out of the Indus Water Treaty. The Indus Water Treaty has been in place through the 1965, 1971, and Kargil wars. It’s sacrosanct because it is a shared resource that millions of people depend on for their livelihood. Cutting off water supply, or choking the water supply coming into Pakistan in violation of a treaty would be considered no less than an act of war, as it signals intent to do mass damage to both life and property. Such a move would be dumb as it leaves Pakistan with no choice but to react out of self-defence. It’s also a dangerous game to be playing since China could easily get involved (they’re upstream of you) and beat Modi at his own nasty game. Water is a vital resource without which crops will die and people will go hungry, which would lead to serious destabilisation. A destabilised Pakistan is not good for India, especially when the destabilisation can be clearly attributed to Indian policy. The international community may view India as a rising star, but this rising star status is likely to be dampened if your PM keeps behaving like a nutter. He’s overreaching and will find himself out of his depth, causing serious loss of face on his part. The prospect of this loss of face might even persuade him to double down on his current strategy, which would of course be the recipe for a perfect storm. Consider that Modi’s policy of diplomatic ‘isolation’ is already falling flat on its face: Pakistan is holding its first ever joint military exercise with Russia since 1947, just got the US to signal that it doesn’t support India’s position on Balochistan, and got China to chime in that it would stand behind Pakistan in any cases of foreign aggression. So, isolation? Not really. Try again Modi, or better yet, calm yourself and come back down to reality. The ‘terrorism’ hypocrisy Your government and your media propagate a view that Pakistan is some sort of rogue state that functions solely to export terrorism. What they don’t tell you or what you choose to ignore is that Pakistan is a much greater victim of terrorism than India – we have lost over 8000 soldiers and 80,000 civilians in the fight against terrorism just in the past 12 years. We’ve taken on jihadi outfits left, right and centre – even ones that we had a hand in creating. For your every Pathankot, we’ve had 10 Pathankot’s. For your every Mumbai attack, we’ve had five Mumbai attacks. Our cities have been plagued by suicide bombers and fear, and your government has been complicit in some of this terror. It has funded anti-state militants in Balochistan as your PM all but admitted to, has sought to destabilise Karachi through Altaf Hussain and has also used consulates in Afghanistan to fund the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) through RAW. When your media launches a tirade against Pakistan as a sponsor of terror, they fail to point out that your own government has actively pursued a policy of sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan. Whether you agree with this policy (you might well think that it’s a justified tit-for-tat response to perceived interference in Kashmir) is irrelevant – rather what’s important to understand is that Pakistanis these days operate (rightly so) under the assumption that the Indian government is doing everything it can to actively destabilise the country through nefarious means. For all the Indian friends I have made over the years as a student in the US, I’ve never met a single one that hasn’t expressed a desire for peace and cooperation between our two countries. Granted, I’ve had extremely heated debates, but regardless of our disagreements over specific issues we’ve always netted out on the shared belief that the future of our region should hold less, and not more, of what we’ve become accustomed to our entire lives. This knowledge is what motivates me to write this out – the knowledge that there’s a divide between most Indians and Indian government policy, and that there are reasonable people on both sides of the border that should be actively engaging with one another. If you have not already, I implore you to open your eyes to the reality in Kashmir – the reality of crimes committed against a civilian populace, the reality of rapes and shotguns, of mass graves and curfews. The reality that what’s now happening is somewhere between civil disobedience and an intifada and that the fault is primarily your government/army’s. There are hawks on both sides of the border – people who benefit from aggressive posturing and the possibility of war. These are the same people who are doing a disservice to the majority of their countrymen who are just regular people that want to live peaceful, prosperous lives. I think it’s also important to point out the amount of amusement Pakistanis treat the scrambling of your politicians and Director General of Military Operations with. In an attempt to divert attention from Kashmir and placate the hawks in India, your government/army is now telling you fairy tales of how paratroopers crossed into Pakistan, killed a bunch of terrorists, and then somehow flew back unharmed, in what they're calling a ‘surgical strike’. Make no mistake – these are such lofty fabrications that people in the Pakistan Army don’t know what to make of it; they’re somewhere between amused and confused considering that if there was a surgical strike, it was so damn surgical that there are no signs of it whatsoever. What has been established is that at least eight of your soldiers have been killed and one has been captured. So, surgical strike? More like surgical blunder. I hope that after reading this you will leave with at least some sense of perspective – some sense of how the other side sees the moves your government is making, and some sense of how this is likely to play out if left unchecked. You’re better than Modi, Ajit Doval, and the RSS, India. Don’t let them monopolise your country’s future and stop letting them embarrass you as a country. Best, Ibrahim Pataudi (a regular Pakistani citizen)

Ma stared at Saira’s lifeless body, unable to believe her eyes. She pulled her feet from the grasp of the floor and walked towards her. All kinds of thoughts crossed her mind in those few steps, which seemed to be taking an eternity to cover; Saira’s first steps which she had taken in this house. Her laugh that always resonated through the house echoed in her ears. She thought about how Saira always used to run around the house wearing a self-made tiara, asking everyone to call her ‘Princess Saira’.

And now, the image of her princess’s immobile body was etched in her eyes. She dropped next to Saira, staring at her as if one look would bring her back to life.

Ma’s eyes fell on the sweets on the ground. Red ones were Saira’s favourite. Ma stretched her hand to pick them up but her hand brushed across a piece of paper; a letter. She picked it up and unfolded it. Her eyes moved from one corner of the paper to another, and with every word she read, she felt a bitter taste fill her mouth. Fatima? She remembered her. She was Saira’s friend.

Her mind began to race. Where did Saira get this letter? But before she could form a thought, someone burst through the door. Afzal.

His eyes wide in shock, unable to believe what he was seeing, he stared at her sister lying face-down on the ground. His father and Taya Abba stood near her looking infuriated. And his mother, letter in her hand, stared over at Afzal.

“Ma? Ma what’s wrong with Apa? What happened?”

Afzal surveyed the room, looking for answers.

“Afzal, why wasn’t Fatima coming to school? Did she give you a letter for Saira?”

Ma knew Afzal must have some answers.

“Fatima? What has she got to do with this? Did she do something to Apa?”

“Just answer me!”

She had unknowingly gotten up to her feet.

“Ye.. Yes, Fatima wasn’t coming to school for a long time now. She didn’t give me any letter but I met her brother Omar last week. He told me he had a letter from Fatima and was looking for Apa.”

Afzal was confused. These questions seemed to have no connection with the scene in front of him.

“Omar? Did you see him again after that?” Ma stared at him intently.

“No I don’t think so. No, wait. I saw him today as well in the park. When I was coming back just now, I saw him there with his friends. But what’s going on, Ma?”

“Fatima’s brother, Omar? It was Fatima’s brother with Saira in the park?”

She turned towards Taya Abba. He had her confusion reflected on his face too.

“What are you talking about? What is that in your hand?” Abba asked her, unable to connect the dots.

“This is a letter from Saira’s friend, Fatima. Fatima’s brother, Omar, delivered it to Saira today in the park. That was who Saira was talking to. That was who bhai jaan saw her with.”

She answered Abba, her eyes still glued to Taya Abba’s face. Silence followed Ma’s word. It seemed as if the world had stopped for a moment, when everyone tried to understand what they had done.

“I.. I..” Taya Abba stammered.

He could start to comprehend the misunderstanding, the magnitude of the crime he had committed. He frantically surveyed the room for something that could help him escape his guilt.

“What? But we just… Saira wasn’t…”

Abba’s eyes went from Ma to Saira’s body, still lying on the ground. He ran towards her and turned her face up.

Her eyes were blank, lifeless. Her neck bore signs of pressure, face showed prints of Taya Abba’s hand. Abba’s eyes surveyed her face.

“Saira! Saira!”

It was as if his eyes finally saw clearly. As if he had only just come to his senses. He laid Saira’s head down on the ground carefully and got up.

“You! You killed my daughter! My only daughter, my princess.”

He stared with rage at his brother, tears beginning to form in the back of his eyes. Taya Abba instinctively took a step back.

“No, I.. You told me to.”

His eyes kept glancing towards the door.

“I told you to?”

Abba’s high-pitched voice made Taya Abba jump like a cat.

“No I mean… Listen to me. We didn’t know. I didn’t know. We all thought she was…” Taya Abba stammered.

“I don’t care. You killed my daughter, my Saira. You made us doubt her!”

Tears finally escaped his eyes, rolling down, soaking his beard.

Taya Abba glanced at his tear-streaked face. He knew he was going to be in trouble if he didn’t escape now. He took a step towards the door and ran for it.

But nobody ran after him. Both the parents knew they were as much a part of this as Taya Abba was. So who were they to blame anyone for it? Who were they to point a finger towards him when all the others were pointing at themselves?

A week had passed since Saira’s death, but everything was still fresh at the house. Saira’s presence could still be sensed, even though her body had already been buried in the closest cemetery. People were still coming over to condole, asking all sorts of questions. But who had the answers to them? What was anyone supposed to say? That they killed their own daughter over an allegation?

So they had mastered their story.

“Saira was very happy that day, my poor little girl. She had just told us that she wanted to go visit her friend, Fatima, and we had said yes. She was jumping all around the house. Suddenly, she tripped over her own foot and fell down. Her dupatta wound around her neck and got stuck in the clothesline. My poor baby couldn’t even call out to us.”

They hated themselves for lying about Saira’s death, but what other choice did they have?

Everything was apparently going back to routine. Abba went to work every day, Afzal had started to go to school too. Ma tried to busy herself with chores. But they were all fighting a battle with themselves, one they knew they’ll never win. Because the only one who could help them through this was dead. Their lives were never going to be the same.

Ma cried herself to sleep every night. Why hadn’t she saved her daughter? Why couldn’t she have at least listened to her daughter, let her explain herself? Would it have been different if she had never asked Saira to go to bhai jaan for the Holy Quran lessons? All the regrets and questions flooded her mind every night. But at least she could ask questions. Saira was in no such condition. She was gone, with all her memories and regrets buried with her. All her questions had died with her that day. Only one remained,

Was I a threat?

After the recent attack on the Uri military base, Mr Modi said that Pakistan and India should focus on the development of their own people. So I thought about what India could do to improve the lot of its citizens. Even after almost 70 years as an independent country, India is still an undeveloped nation. Estimates vary, but it can safely be assumed that at least 40% of Indians go to bed hungry every night.  That’s about half a billion people who need a dollar a day to survive, which translates into roughly $180 billion per year. This is something that should seriously worry the Indian government. So why does India have to spend over $50 billion on its defence, considering that it is a nuclear power and no country would dare invade it? And why should it give a billion dollars every year to Afghanistan, unless it is to destabilise Pakistan? Of course, we always knew this and it has been proved by Afghanistan virtually declaring itself a colony of India by refusing to attend the forthcoming SAARC summit. If India’s aim is to help the poor and hungry, why not do it in India itself? As they say, “charity begins at home.” But what should worry the Indian prime minister the most is the lack of toilet training amongst most Indians – 720 million of whom don’t or can’t use toilets. According to foreigners, a stinking smell assails their nostrils whenever they step out of airplanes into any Indian city, particularly Mumbai. They call it “Bombay perfume.” It seems that most Indians don’t have toilets in their homes. In fact when the government gave them free commodes, they refused to use them, preferring to relieve themselves in the wide open spaces where they could empty their bowels and at the same time think deeply on what can be done to improve their lifestyles. In fact, Mr Modi would be interested to know that an entire apartment complex was built without any toilets recently. All passengers would certainly be shocked if any Indian suddenly squatted in the aisle of an airplane and did what should be done in the bathroom! So what should Mr Modi do to make life easier for Indians? First of all, he should stop thinking of his country as a superpower, like the US. Secondly, he should reduce defence spending considerably – most of it goes into buying junk equipment and increasing the wealth of corrupt Indians anyway. He should go all out to provide food for those Indians who do not earn enough to feed themselves. And finally, he should make sure that every Indian house has a toilet. In fact, that should be his top priority, as it will make people of other countries feel better when visiting India or interacting with Indians.

Edward Eastwick (1814-1883) entered the service of the East India Company at the comparatively late age of 22, after arriving in Bombay in the summer of 1836. This was not Eastwick’s first trip abroad. Following the unlikely advice of a family doctor and the ‘earnest solicitations’ of his wife, Eastwick’s father Robert had taken his sickly 10-year-old son on a year-long opium-trading voyage to China in 1825. Eastwick caught the travel bug, and probably many others besides. The privations of this early voyage may have gone some way to prepare Eastwick for his first posting in India as ‘Assistant Political Agent, Upper Sindh’. After an exhausting two-month journey from Gujarat, by boat, camel and foot, Eastwick arrived at Sukkur on the bank of the Indus and set about securing lodgings. With daily temperatures hovering around 40°C in the shade, and already suffering from regular bouts of fever, he rejected the canvas tents of the other officers and opted instead to have the long-abandoned tomb of a Mughal Princess cleared of rubbish for his own habitation. This action seems to have gone down very badly indeed with his new boss, the firebrand Scot, Andrew Ross Bell (1809-1841). Bell, suffering terribly from fever himself, was frequently absent from his post as he attempted to recover his health in the hills at Simla. Before one such sojourn he summoned his new recruit for what Eastwick imagined would be a formal handover of duties.

“I have sent for you,” Bell said, with a thoughtful and anxious air, “to beg you will lay the camel dák with care, and use every exertion in order that the produce of the vegetable garden, particularly green peas, may reach me as often as possible!”

“You must therefore sink such a number of wells”, began one, particularly demanding order, “as shall furnish an ample supply of water for 2000 men and 500 camels.”

The size of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), its past  performance and the Republic’s economic super power status have periodically got Washington’s knickers in a twist, much to the glee of the United States’ military-industrial sector. The South China Morning Post’s report of a prospective overhaul of China’s land troops to acquire a rapidly deployable force on the lines of the US Army’s 101^st Airborne Division (101^st) promises as much. The plan also involuntarily activates latent Sinophobia – even though the ambitious project is obviously a very long haul – with success hanging on China’s crucial choice between conscription and professionalism. Milton Friedman (1912-2006), Nobel laureate economist, is generally credited with being a mentor of the United States’ modern, all-volunteer, professional military. In the 70s, when Friedman had sold the idea to then-Secretary of Defence Melvin Laird, General Westmoreland reportedly commented that he would not want to command an army of mercenaries to which Friedman apparently retorted,

“Would you rather command an army of slaves?”

Last month, a US petition to designate Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism gained serious momentum. Having crossed the 100,000 signature threshold, the issue now awaits addressing by the Obama administration. The question then begs to be answered: is or has Pakistan been a state sponsor of terrorism in its checkered past? With all due respect and within all my patriotic sensibilities, I believe the answer to be possibly – nay, probably – yes. For as long as I can remember covering South Asian politics, Pakistan has been on the hook for spending nights in bed with the Americans with quickie afternoon siestas with home grown extremist groups. Frankly, we don’t have a leg to stand on because we lack irrevocable proof showing that we have completely shunned and cut off support to extremist groups responsible for some seriously crappy international events. Simply put, situations like OBL turning up in our backyard and our constant flip flopping on the issue of ‘good Taliban versus bad Taliban’ makes us look pretty bad, pretty much all the time. (Pro tip: there are no good Taliban – problem solved and I’ll take my Person with Much Political Prowess Award to go, please). Yet – despite Pakistan’s possible guilt in supporting or turning a blind eye to certain terrorist factions – for India to act as the regional mudslinging, holier-than-thou figure is a hypocrisy bordering on hilarity. Really, it’s just another one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bouts of continuous political grandstanding and stoking the flames of regional conflict. And it won’t work for two reasons. First, the US is not likely to sever the very strategic and seriously important ties it has with its ally Pakistan anytime soon. Despite the strict rhetoric emanating from the White House (since at least 2014) encouraging Pakistan to adopt a more hard-line approach towards extremist non-state actors, the relationship between Islamabad and Washington is slowly bettering. On Pakistan’s part, our establishment has put in an increased effort to shut down militant groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). And these efforts are not going unnoticed in Washington. Just last month the Secretary of State, John Kerry, has reiterated America’s restored confidence in and an increasing level of cooperation with Islamabad. The second reason Modi’s mudslinging and attempts to ostracise Pakistan are not going to work is because of India’s own checkered past and present. Indeed, if Modi’s year-and-a-half long reign has confirmed one thing, it is that India bleeds saffron and saffron alone. Concealed behind his agenda of harnessing India’s population size and growing economic ability, Modi has been constantly propagating anti-minority sentiment. Under Modi’s reign (unlike the reign of India’s other recent leaders) the dark underbelly of inflammatory Hindu nationalism – at the expense of all their minorities – has been on the up and up. India’s own politicians have acknowledged this dark side of hyped-up Hindu nationalism. Recall the 2013 comments of Indian Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, when he disclosed that Hindu terrorist training camps were being promoted by parties Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Shinde went on to confirm that these parties have numerous times in the past incited Hindu-Muslim violence including the Gujarat riots and the Babri Masjid incident. A 2015 Guardian op-ed by political commentator Anish Kapoor boldly likens Modi’s reign to the Hindu version of the Taliban. I urge you to read it in its entirety because a year later it remains relevant and accurately depicts India’s culpability in allowing unimpeded violence and abuse of its minorities. Fast forward to present day: India’s decision to pull out of this year’s Pakistan-hosted SAARC meet, which caused a domino effect resulting in regional neighbours pulling out, is an unfortunate symptom of the destabilising illness plaguing the region. Just days ago, news broke that Pakistan has postponed (in effect: cancelled) this year’s SAARC. Truly, having to delay a meet between the power players of South Asia is a shame. Because, as the Kashmir curfew reaches 80 days, valuable human lives are lost in skirmishes at the border, and the global threat of ISIS attempts to gain momentum in the region, this year, maybe more so than any other year, SAARC and its promise of economic and regional integration was a necessity.

So, after his last critical and commercial flop, Only God Forgives (2013), Nicolas Winding Refn is back with another film – The Neon Demon.

The Neon Demon is the story of a young girl – played by Elle Fanning – who lacks every bit of talent, except for looking pretty. She decides to become a model and without much hesitation, quickly climbs the ladder of success and in return, her fellow models become envious of her.

But what starts off as a rags to riches success story, quickly ends up turning into a much more psychedelic and horrifying experience.

With previous films like the Pusher trilogy, Drive (2011) and Only God Forgives under his belt, can Nicolas Winding Refn once again prove himself to be one of the leading voices in modern American cinema?

The film stars Elle Fanning, Jena Malone and Keanu Reeves.

Elle Fanning
Photo: IMDb

Jena Malone
Photo: IMDb

Elle Fanning
Photo: IMDb

Elle Fanning and Abbey Lee
Photo: IMDb

Elle Fanning
Photo: IMDb

Jena Malone and Elle Fanning
Photo: IMDb

Elle Fanning
Photo: IMDb

Elle Fanning
Photo: IMDb

Abbey Lee
Photo: IMDb

Elle Fanning
Photo: IMDb

Not too long ago, Bollywood released a cricket biopic of a fallen star called Azhar (2016). Among other things that went wrong with Azhar, the biggest problem with it was the mockery it made of cricket. Even before Azhar, films like Kai po che! (2013) and Victory (2009) also struggled to show the sport the way it is played. Admittedly, it’s very difficult to make sports genre movies because you have actors playing the sport that may not be their strength. However, if you miss the basic laws of the game, there is a bigger problem than the actor.

M S Dhoni: The Untold Story is directed by Neeraj Pandey. When a name like Neeraj is associated to a project, you know that there will not be research blunders in the film. At least not the kind you witnessed in Anthony D’Souza’s Azhar. Not many directors are as sure as Neeraj regarding what he wants from a film. His screenplays are sharper than a blunt knife and editing sequences are crisp as a starched white shirt. In M S Dhoni: The Untold Story too, he has played on his strengths very well. But the question is, is it a good biopic?

Sushant Singh Rajput
Photo: IMDb

M S Dhoni: The Untold Story is barefaced. Azhar too was barefaced but far more unbelievable than the biopic on Dhoni. You could see propaganda in Azhar and you can see glorification in M S Dhoni, but you still feel sympathy and relevance with M S Dhoni that you never did with Azhar.

Sushant Singh Rajput
Photo: IMDb

M S Dhoni is Creed (2015) of cricket. That underdog sympathy has been done repeatedly in cinema. It blatantly overplays the notion of Dhoni being “Captain Cool” staying unaffected by the events happening around him. It’s obvious in the way he deals with his father, his coaches, his selectors and his love interests. He is unmoved to the extent of being indifferent, but in a post interval scene when he breaks out, we see that it’s a façade that helps him move on from tough situations.

Sushant Singh Rajput
Photo: IMDb

There are many moments in M S Dhoni that stay with you for a long time after they are over. You want to look back on them like you do in an Imtiaz Ali film. The best scene of the film to me was when Satyaprakash, a colleague from Dhoni’s railway days comes to see him in the hotel after he becomes the captain. It makes you fall in love, not with Dhoni but with the narrative.

Sushant Singh Rajput
Photo: IMDb

I was also touched by the scene in which Dhoni narrates the story of Yuvraj Singh’s conquest over his team and how they lost the match to Punajb and Dhoni fixing a bike that did not start properly used as a metaphor to fix the team. And, also, the badminton court scene where he finds out his selection in the team and does not break the volley he is playing. He only smiles a little after he scores the point. That is the focus associated with Dhoni. Another highlight of the film was morphing the protagonist Sushant Singh Rajput in the actual matches, something that has not been tried in the other biopics before and clearly stands out.

Sushant Singh Rajput
Photo: IMDb

What leaves me thinking is: where is the untold story? Where are the scandals? Where is the IPL corruption saga? Why is the rift with Sehwag downplayed in a 10-second sequence? Why is Dhoni only a winner in blue shirt and not the loser in yellow shirt of Chennai Super Kings in several IPL editions? And even in blue shirt, what happened to his defeats between 2007 and 2011?

Sushant Singh Rajput
Photo: IMDb

The essence of ‘Captain Cool’ would have been depicted had they shown how Dhoni dealt with the setbacks in his life and how the highs and lows contributed to what he had become.

Even though I loved the film as much as I loved A Wednesday (2008) and Special 26 (2013), I still believe Neeraj left out a lot that was desired. It’s a great sport film. No one has done as much justice to cricket as Neeraj has. He has done a great job on the actor playing Dhoni, but in this process he has completely overlooked other parts of the film. The side tracks are clichéd. The tension during the matches being played by Dhoni is contrived and could have been shortened considering that the film is 190 minutes long.

The absence of immorality or the overdose of positivity hurts. There is not a single person in the film who has negative intentions or influence in Dhoni’s career. Lastly, Neeraj Pandey cannot handle romance. I cringed whilst watching the love chemistry in Special 26 and in M S Dhoni, he has simply taken the biscuit. Romance is not Neeraj’s forte. Ironically, he spent way too much time on it. He managed to get a few decent scenes but overall it was disappointing.

Sushant Singh Rajput and Disha Patani
Photo: IMDb

Sushant Singh Rajput has towered in his role as Dhoni. It will be unfair to not mention how much effort he has put into the cricketing side of the film. His technique looked better than that of Dhoni, granted that Dhoni himself is not the most correct batsman anyway. When an actor puts a lot of hard work in an act, it shows; amazing physique, mannerism, and emotional restraint. He kept walking the tightrope between outright mimicry and sympathetic interpretation with a flawless ease. This is a memorable performance that can prove a breakthrough for Rajput.

Sushant Singh Rajput
Photo: IMDb

The remaining cast is quite effective other than the two love interests, who became victims of Neeraj’s weak romance. Kali Prasad as the railway boss and Kumud Mishra as Dhoni’s first beneficiary in Bihar stand out. The token Sardar friend and the guy who taught Dhoni how to play the trademark helicopter shot are also quite good.

Sushant Singh Rajput
Photo: IMDb

Remarkably, the film seems to be in constant motion, as if acknowledging the importance Dhoni placed on his players’ movement in the field. If a 190 minutes’ film is made by Ashutosh Gowarikar, you come out of the theatre feeling old. In this case, you come out feeling younger and thinking you could have watched more of the story unfolding.

Sushant Singh Rajput
Photo: IMDb

If we take out the romantic element and overdose of positivity from the film, it could be counted as an all-time great biopic of the Indian cinema. Even if we keep these things intact, it’s a great cricket film which will resonate with masses. In M S Dhoni, hope and the moment of truth arrive in the form of a ghost train. There is no one inside but the gate automatically opens. Dhoni has to take the call to get in and he does. That moment changes his life. It’s one of the warmest movies to come out this year, at par with mammoth Sultan (2016). It shows us that we are delighted in the successes of unexpected heroes, because we have a hand in creating them. In the end, as Ravi Shastri would say, “cricket is the winner.”

I had always dreamt of living in one of the biggest cities of the world, and walking around the streets of Manhattan was one of those dreams. I wanted to feel the adrenaline rush as I walked with the high-end elites and saw their exotic taste in fashion with my own eyes. And when I got the chance to live in New York, I realised that the people in the fashion magazines and on the cover pages really do exist. Manhattan had always been a kind of illusion – girls click-clacking in their top-shop heels, sashaying around with their Gucci bags – it had all seemed so distant. But now, this was a rampant reality. That wasn’t the most astounding part about New York; in fact, I learnt that there was a lot more hiding behind what seemed to be a shiny façade. I came to know that there’s a lot of patience, diversity, talent, poverty, and respect in the streets of Brooklyn and Harlem. There’s a lot of courage, hard work, and perseverance that can only be seen if one goes beyond Times Square to the almost abandoned subway stations and broken houses of the Bronx. New York is a city where people lived, preached and practiced whatever they wanted to. One day, during Ramazan, I was in front of Grand Central looking for a chair in Bryant Park to eat my iftar when I saw a man kneeling down, just like we do while offering our namaz. He was kneeling right in the middle of a construction site and a road full of people and cars. I was confused about whether I was mistaken; after all, how could one pray amidst all the dust, trash, and crowd? Flabbergasted, I decided to take a closer look and observe him for a few seconds – and what I saw was the epitome of devotion. He was using a sheet of cardboard as his prayer mat and just praying, with no signs of anxiety or stress. All I could see on his face was serenity; he didn’t seem to care about anyone around him, nor was he concerned about the dirt and dust on his clothes, or on the piece of cardboard he prayed upon. His only concerns were his prayer, and his Lord. The sight was beautiful and I couldn’t resist so I took his picture and waited for him to finish praying so I could ask his permission to use it later. When I told him that I took a picture of him and needed his permission, he smiled, nodded and went back to his work site without any questioning whatsoever. While we care so much about little things like a proper mosque, a prayer mat, a clean floor, these men, despite working under strenuous conditions, follow their religion effortlessly. Isn’t this the simplicity that Islam truly stands for? [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] How could he pray amidst all this dust, trash, and such a vast crowd?[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] He didn’t seem to care about anyone around him.[/caption] Another exciting thing I encountered was how much effort people put into polishing and displaying their talents. Music, gymnastics, singing, dancing – in fact, all forms of art could be witnessed everywhere. From subway stations to nooks and corners of every street, there was a lot to relish and, that too, without spending a single penny! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] All forms of arts could be witnessed everywhere.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] From subway stations to nooks and corners of every street, there was a lot to relish and that too without even spending a penny![/caption] Beyond the layers of superficiality and materialism, I saw rivulets of emotion as well. I witnessed love, empathy, despair, and thoughtfulness amidst the bustling city. Peeling off the lights of the city uncovered many feelings; let it be those simple padlocks with prayers of eternal love on the Brooklyn bridge, homeless and helpless individuals on the sides of the streets or even people sitting at a cathedral for hours. Whenever I saw those padlocks, it reminded me of how important love is; whether you’re rich or poor, love is one necessity for everyone, everywhere. Whenever I encountered a homeless individual, I expressed gratitude to my Allah for every little blessing I had. I offered my namaz at the cathedral numerous times, as the devoted individuals there inspired me. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] I offered my namaz at the cathedral numerous times.[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] There’s a lot more to say about the city.[/caption] There’s a lot more to say about the city and there’s a lot more to explore as well. People will tell you that there are a million things which make New York City the city where everyone wants to be. But apart from all those things, this city has a spirit which cannot be articulated. It has a form of simplicity which can only be explored and felt. All photos: Anam Saeed

Art is art. Art does not know a nationality or a region or a religion. Does a German heart move more than a non-German heart while listening to Beethoven’s symphonies?

What if nobody outside France ever saw the Mona Lisa, or the Starry night was only seen by Dutch eyes?

Art and artists belong to the world. Art is a reflection of the human condition, feelings shared by all of us universally. We all feel love, we all feel sadness, and we all feel loss.

The world was moved by the picture of a dead Syrian toddler washed up on a Turkish shore. Statuses mourning the loss of Prince and David Bowie were posted all around the world. A Beatles song playing in the middle of nowhere can create a sense of familiarity and spark an emotional connection with people you may not even share a language with.

His fight for euqality in muisc was ledgendary. RIP David Bowie #RIPDavidBowie https://t.co/Ci0NBKQdLV

— Dman

starboy to star child ⚡ #RIPDavidBowie https://t.co/Ro2EgQ7hvC

— X

#RIPPrince who always had that look https://t.co/RbSWpEqVEi pic.twitter.com/H1BJ0kp0no

— Brian P. Hickey (@BrianPHickey) September 27, 2016

RIP Prince #ripprince pic.twitter.com/56LQpzr4nW

— kathryn davidson (@kathryndavids13) September 23, 2016

India’s decision to ban Pakistani artists is detrimental to their own industry. Bollywood has been made even better by the inclusion of our Pakistani talent. By the exchange of artists, our industry has been improved by the give-and-take of ideas and art.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

It was an idiotic and short sighted decision; the kneejerk reaction by cinemas in Pakistan to ban Indian movies is equally stupid. The reason multiple multiplexes have opened up in Pakistan is because of how popular Indian movies are. The increased number of screens led to a rise in demand for movies, creating a space for Pakistani movies.

To express solidarity with the Armed Forces of Pakistan, the Management of #NueplexCinemas has decided to stop the screening of Indian films pic.twitter.com/5ctYTMFisE

— Nueplex Cinemas (@NueplexCinemas) September 30, 2016

Dear @ShivSena,

This is to remind you that Fawad khan, a pakistani actor, is working in Bollywood since 2014

Regards
Aman

— Aman (@Firki_) September 19, 2016

Indian film industry owes it to the people of India that it'll not contribute to Pak economy by engaging Pak nationals. #BoycottPakOrNot

— BS Bassi (@BhimBassi) September 23, 2016

Economically, these multiplexes now have numerous people employed and, if Indian movies are banned, it may lead towards a dramatic fall in the multiplexes’ popularity, eventually affecting its profit margins. Any economic disadvantage we are looking to inflict on Bollywood will be offset by the economic disadvantage we are causing to local businesses, whereas the Goliath is that Bollywood will not be hurt. Bollywood movies screen around the world; they are one of the most lucrative movie industries.

The influx of Bollywood movies has led to the revival of Lollywood. Would we have Manto and Actor in Law if Bollywood movies were never screened in Pakistan?

Most Pakistanis grew up watching Bollywood movies. We have been shaped by their ideas and influenced by their actors. It is not surprising that the movies being made in Pakistan are similar to Bollywood movies. It is not merely a case of being influenced or inspired, but also that India and Pakistan share a rich performing arts history.

The roots of Bollywood found in folk theatre forms belong to both India and Pakistan. Part of the reason why Bollywood resonates so well with a Pakistani audience is that it stems from the same fountainhead of theatre and performance as our country.

Even if we were to ban Bollywood movies officially, people in Pakistan would still be pirating the movies on DVDs or downloading them illegally. We are not stopping the exchange of ideas; we are simply robbing Pakistanis from another avenue of entertainment.

When Star Plus was banned in Pakistan, my family would buy DVDs of their dramas.

Rules and laws cannot prevent the exchange of ideas and the flow of art. In an extremely globalised world it is impossible to even try to isolate yourself as a country. North Korea has to strictly ban the internet altogether and use the state apparatus to promote propaganda to try to isolate the country from the world and yet ideas find a way to infiltrate State controls.

For Pakistan, it is impossible to isolate Indians. People from both countries have historic familial ties with each other. We share tradition and culture. In the world of technology it is impossible to prevent people to communicate between the two countries.

In these troubling times artists should come out in support of peace, love, and understanding. It is unfortunate that regulatory organisations for artists and art in both countries are caving in to war hysteria.

Loving your country does not mean you have to hate another country. Patriotism does not have to be necessarily a hateful ideology.

The decision to ban Pakistani artists in India and ban Bollywood movies in Pakistan come from a place of hate rather than a place of love.

It was a weekend worthy of a roller coaster ride for me – in sports that is. Liverpool came from behind to win in the dying minutes of the match at the Liberty Stadium. The high-fives, punches in the air and the roars were all evidence of my elevated levels of ecstasy. It is a different sense of euphoria altogether when your team wins a match it had trailed in the beginning. However, my joy was cut short soon after when I read about the death of a young Scottish boxer online.

Mike Towell died Friday night after being critically injured in the nationally televised bout. The 25-year-old welterweight boxer lost in the fifth round to the Welsh boxer Dale Evans in a fight in Glasgow, Scotland held a day earlier.

Also known as “Iron Mike Towell”, the father of one suffered severe bleeding and swelling to his brain, and 12 hours after being pulled from life support, he died. A few weeks leading up to the fight, he had complained of headaches, which he took as migraine resulting from stressful routine for the fights.

According to a Facebook post by Towell’s partner of eight years, Chloe Ross, he,

“Fought right to the end”.

“I’m absolutely heartbroken to say my annoying best friend passed away tonight at 11:02 very peacefully,” Ross wrote. “It has been the longest 24 hours of our lives. My baby has lost his daddy. But he will be so so proud of his dad in what he achieved.”

Indeed the family will find it hard to bear with the tragic loss of their loved one, but what I find even more heart wrenching is how his opponent in the bout will forever live with the fact that they were his final blows that may have unintentionally caused Towell’s death.

Chloe Ross, the heartbroken partner of boxer Mike Towell, has told how he ‘fought right to the end’ before dying from injuries he suffered in a bout.
Photo: Daily Mail

Towell was beaten by Dale Evans, who said,

 “I’m absolutely devastated. It is like one of my own family members has passed.”

“I put him down with a shot in the fifth round but he recovered. There was no celebrating once I saw the condition Mike was in. We were devastated when we heard the news.”

“I feel like I am responsible because we are the ones punching each other – and this is something I have to live with now.”

With so much punching and pounding, boxing has been not so kind to many before and I personally find it to be a very dangerous sport. There have been many instances previously where these heavyweight professionals have suffered numerous injuries and in some rare cases, death similar to Towell’s.

Towell was knocked out in the fifth round of a fight with Welshman Dale Evans.
Photo: Jamie Williamson

For me, the horrific biting of Evander Holyfield’s ear by the legendary Mike Tyson was more than I could stomach. What was hyped as one of the most thrilling contests of the last century, between the two fierce rivals, turned out to be far more ferocious and bloodier (read: bloody ear) than anyone could have ever imagined.

One of the greatest managers of Liverpool Bill Shankly once said,

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

But that is football. And this is boxing; a monstrous, blood sucking, life changing sport.

At the beginning of the ride, the cab driver asked me for Rs150 for a journey halfway through Peshawar – Saddar to the ends of University Road. Sounds reasonable, I thought to myself. On the way, we struck up a conversation. By the end of the ride, he refused to take a paisa.

“You are from Karachi. That means you are my guest.”

“Aap ne izzat di; mohabbat di. Pakhtun ko aur kuch nahin chahyay.” (You gave me love and respect: that is all a Pakhtun needs).

“This is nothing; wait till you go to you go to Fata.” I was told.

“And that is where it all happened. That is Army Public School.”

“They are all one in the same.”

“When will people from the rest of Pakistan realise that we want peace more than they do. Have they suffered like us?”

“Please tell the people of Karachi that the kabaili laug are not wild animals with horns coming out of their heads. Hum bhi insaan hain, aap ki tarhan.” (We are also humans, just like you).

What’s nearly as good as reading an Urdu poem? Simple! Hearing it sung. This might sound ridiculous to many of you out there, and if the poet in question is the legendary Faiz Ahmed Faiz, even blasphemous, but here me out. When was the last time you allowed yourself to indulge in written Urdu kalaam? Get my point? So, when we get to hear relatively obscure work of these literary maestros, since we seem to be so averse to the idea of actually reading them, I believe it’s something to be valued rather than being ridiculed. This brings me to ‘Kuttay‘, a somewhat unknown nazm penned by the iconic leftist poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. We might have had our fair share of Faiz’s “Mujhse Pehli Si Mohabbat”, “Hum Dekhaingay” and “Gulon Mein Rang Bhare” over the years but Kuttay is another undiscovered gem that we can now experience – courtesy of Nishtar Park, a Karachi-based rock band. The band mates previously called ‘EMB’ started jamming together back in 2010 during their time at St Patrick’s High School. In December 2015, they shuffled their pack and renamed the band to ‘Nishtar Park’. Nishtar Park’s music can be best described as a fusion of indie and rock n’ roll. Kuttay was penned by Faiz as part of his first book, Naqsh-e-Faryadi, which was published in 1941. The nazm is an extension of his usual criticism of the sleeping middle class and allegorical parallels have been drawn between them and dogs. There is something peculiarly profound about this poem which mainly stands out due to his plain choice of words and apt metaphors. As for the crooned version, while the composition keeps the sound very Eastern, the arrangement on the whole leans towards a more Western influence. Long story short, ‘Kuttay’ is unleashed and we don’t care if this is the way they are let out! [poll id="685"]

When Kiefer Sutherland announced his return to TV in the new show, Designated Survivor, I was thrilled since I loved watching Jack Bauer continuously put his life at risk to save lives on 24 and 24: Live Another Day. But I was yet to find out whether this new show would live up to my expectations.

The plot of the show is quite intriguing; it revolves around Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland), who was the secretary of housing and development at the White House, but was not given any importance in the presidential palace. His plans and strategies were usually ignored and even the president himself wanted to get rid of him.

Kiefer Sutherland.
Photo: IMDb

Kirkman considered resigning when he was called to become the ‘designated survivor’. In other words, he was the cabinet member who was kept at a secure and undisclosed location while the president and the country’s other top leaders were gathered in one place, as they usually are during the State of Union addresses and presidential inaugurations.

This is done to ensure the continuity of the government in the event of a catastrophic occurrence that kills the president and officials in the presidential line of succession. If such an event occurs, the last surviving official that was highest in line – possibly the designated survivor – becomes the acting president of the United States under the Presidential Succession Act.

Kiefer Sutherland.
Photo: IMDb

In the midst of all this, the impossible happens and an explosion claims the lives of the president and all the members of the cabinet, resulting in Kirkman being sworn in as the president of the US. The show follows the life of Kirkman and his efforts to bring the US back on its feet and finding the culprits behind the explosion, while dealing with his family problems all at the same time.

Kiefer Sutherland.
Photo: IMDb

The show is captivating and Kiefer Sutherland’s strong presence makes it a treat to watch – especially him filling in the president’s shoes. Sutherland’s strong performance is supported by other actors such as Natascha McElhone (Kirkman’s wife), Adan Canto (The White House’s Deputy Chief of Staff), Maggie Q (an FBI agent) and Kal Penn (a speechwriter). They do a commendable job in giving the show a dramatic appeal.

Kiefer Sutherland and Kal Penn.
Photo: IMDb

The high production value of the show makes it a visual treat and helps keep the audience engrossed every step of the way. I am sure viewers will be able to sense the tension and thrill that takes place in the White House.

Kiefer Sutherland and Natascha McElhone.
Photo: IMDb

Kiefer Sutherland has saved the US countless times before as Jack Bauer, but will he be able to do it again as Tom Kirkman, the designated survivor?

Kiefer Sutherland.
Photo: IMDb

There is only one way to find out, you will have to watch the show; and don’t worry, you haven’t missed much because the third episode comes out today!

I have been to Kashmir. No, not as a tourist. I have lived there. I have worked there. I was part of the heavy military instrument of the Indian State in the paradise, guarding it from the heaven dwellers themselves. And some mischievous neighbours too. As a 21-year-old, with the might of one of the biggest militaries in the world behind me and its command pinned on my shoulders, its determination manifested in the AK in my hand, I have roamed the towns and villages with authority which none of the Burhan Wanis or Bhatts or Wazirs or Bhans or Wattals or anybody else whose land it was, would have dared to. Ironically, as a citizen of Nepal, serving in the Indian Army, I was a bundle of contradictions myself. When I led a group of armed men through a tense neighbourhood, I could not help recall the state I was in myself as a teenager, back home in Nepal, angry and frustrated because of the curfew imposed in my hometown, from six in the evening to six in the morning every day for years. When the Maoist insurgency was at its peak, I was a teenager. I have been frisked, violated, insulted; made to do push-ups and squats just because I asked the police man at the check post to repeat himself when he instructed something and I did not properly hear. There were regular visits to our houses – by police in uniform, by police without uniform, by a secret police who everyone knew was a secret police; also from unknown people with weapons prominently hidden under wraps, meant to be seen and feared, demanding food, shelter, and money. I was angry, very angry. I was angry at the then mysterious figure of Prachanda, whose only one picture in combat fatigues was public at that time. I was angry at the ideologue Dr Baburam Bhattarai – legendary Nepal topper (Board First) and PhD from JNU – who was known to be the brain behind the movement. I was angry at the people who marched in my town with weapons held high, after they blew away the local bank and the police station. I was also angry at the policeman who frisked me, dragged me by my arm, threw my bag scattering away all my stuff on the floor and pinned me down to the ground and poked the back of my neck with a pointed object. It wasn’t a stick. It was cold and heavy. I did not see it but a chill ran down my spine. It blew up the anger. I was angry at the government. At the state, which had ignored so many people for so many years that they were ready to fight, and kill and die. Also, I was angry at myself. Without knowing the reason, without a target, the anger was building and building and engulfing me. I was lucky. I had options to flee. I fled at the right time. When I looked at a beautiful Kashmiri child, who approached me with innocent admiration and a genuine query,

“You must be Kashmiri, are you Kashmiri?” I was fumbling for an answer.

“Yes, I am.”

“Yes, we are. We are all Kashmiris. We are all heaven dwellers.”

“We are here for you. We are your men.”

“Yes, I am a Kashmiri. And I love Kashmir. And you.”

Thirteen days after Dave Richardson presented the ICC Test Championship mace to Misbahul Haq and Pakistan contentedly sat on the top of the ICC ranking table, India dislodged Pakistan from the number one position that is now theirs to claim for a while – unless New Zealand can steal a win in the third and final Test and Pakistan clean sweep the West Indies.

Pakistan Test captain Misbahul Haq (R) receives ICC Test Championship mace from ICC Chief Executive David Richardson in Lahore on September 21, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

Number one or not, everyone can agree that the Pakistan team have proven what they are capable of as a Test side – all of which is due to the coaches, players and everyone who made positive contributions during this time of revival.

Team stability had a crucial role to play in Pakistan’s success over the years. Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbahul Haq, Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed, in that same order, have been constant features of the side and should remain to be against the West Indies too.

Pakistan (above) have announced their 17-man Test squad for the upcoming tour to England, with Misbah-ul-Haq leading the team. PHOTO: AFP

However, over the past few years, especially during the most recent England tour, Pakistan is missing a genuine all-rounder who could contribute equally with both bat and ball – someone who adds depth to the batting line-up and provides the option of a fifth bowler.

Pakistan will be playing against the West Indies in Asian conditions, therefore, it would be most fitting if Pakistan opted for a bowling all-rounder who adds variety to the spin department. It is a two-way race between Mohammad Nawaz and Imad Wasim, both of whom are going through a purple patch in their careers.

It is a two-way race between Mohammad Nawaz and Imad Wasim, both of whom are going through a purple patch in their careers. PHOTO: AFP

While Imad has experienced more success in the shorter formats, it is debatable whether or not he will be able to replicate the same form in the longest format too. Imad and Nawaz, both being left-arm spinners, are completely different types of bowlers.

Imad banks on his dead-straight line for wickets where he cramps the batsmen up for room and frustrates them enough to make mistakes. Nawaz, on the contrary, is a proper spinner of the ball who knows how to extract turn out of the pitch by bowling on the correct lengths.

Since Nawaz does actually turn the ball, the one that stays straight becomes equally effective, leaving the batsmen confused. It was clear during the ODIs, that the West Indian batsmen were completely clueless while facing Nawaz, which is why he should get the nod ahead of Imad – who should focus on shorter formats at the moment.

As far as batting goes, while Imad, with an average of 41.91, does indeed have a higher batting average than Nawaz, (33.48) – Nawaz appears to be a step ahead of him when it comes to batting temperament. Imad has made a name for himself as a finisher for Pakistan in the shorter formats, but Nawaz looks to be the one who can dig in deep, get settled into the difficult Asian pitches and steadily keep the scoreboard ticking with his ability to rotate the strike at will.

For the top order, Pakistan has found the much-needed stability in the form of Sami Aslam whose excellent temperament and ability was on full display against a highly potent English pace attack that troubled even the likes of Younis. Azhar is most likely to maintain his position on top with Sami, and Asad Shafiq – Pakistan’s most technically correct batsman at the moment – will open at number three.

Sami Aslam drives it through covers.
PHOTO: REUTERS

Shafiq looked at complete ease when batting at three against England. He even scored a century that sent out a clear indication that he wanted that spot to be his. That would mean that Babar Azam will have to wait another series or two before being inducted into the Test side.

Babar Azam scored 123 off 126 balls for his second consecutive century against West Indies. PHOTO: AFP

Mohammad Amir will be making his Emirates Test comeback and is likely to be the first name on the sheet, alongside Wahab Riaz, who has found plenty of success in the recent past on difficult pitches – such as these where the bowler is required to hit the deck hard and generate his own pace and bounce.

While Wahab, Amir and Yasir Shah are most likely to be the first names on the sheet, Zulfiqar Babar might be worried about his spot and while this may be due to him performing below par, it can also be attributed to the continuous rise and success of bowlers like Muhammad Asghar, Zafar Gohar and even Kashif Bhatti – all of whom are left-arm orthodox bowlers.

Yasir Shah made his international debut in 2011 at the age of 25. PHOTO: AFP

While I do feel that Babar might get the nod in light of his performances in the past (where Yasir and him bowled amazing spells), one can expect either of the three names mentioned above to replace him sooner rather than later.

As far as the West Indian team is concerned, it is a side stuck in a vicious loop that receives a blow every time it progresses. However, expect the young duo of Roston Chase and Jermaine Blackwood to test the resolve of Pakistani bowlers with a similar display of temperament to the one against India that helped the West Indies draw the Test.

The fifth-wicket stand between the two, worth 93 runs, pushed India to the limit where Virat Kohli was left with no option but to accept the outcome of the match. In the bowling department, West Indies will be hoping to see the pairing of Shanon Gabriel and Alzarri Jospeh take wickets upfront using their raw pace.

India West Indies 2nd Test Day 5. PHOTO: AFP

West Indies are evidently short of match-winners in the spin compartment, which is most likely to be led by leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, along with the part-time off-break option provided by Kraigg Brathwaite. While the spin options for West Indies are indeed limited, their pace attack will challenge Pakistan.

All in all, there is plenty of cricket for Misbah and his boys to look forward to. West Indies are not the toughest of oppositions, therefore, realistically speaking, Pakistan should be displeased with anything less than 3-0, that too on familiar conditions. Experiments with the squad can be afforded prior to the tour of Australia and New Zealand to ensure that Pakistan head south with their best possible combinations.

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We know that Pakistan is an ethnically diverse society and such societies actually require a decentralised political arrangement. However, due to a strong centre primarily dominated by Punjab, there are widespread and mostly justified complaints from the smaller provinces. The dominance of Punjab is springing from a host of possible reasons, which are: high population allowing it to dominate legislature; resource allocation mechanism which is based on population, dominance in civil and military bureaucracy and promotion of “patriotic” nationalism and Islamic identity which are basically geared at ensuring a strong centre. One of the major rationales often cited about Punjab’s ability to dominate is its extraordinary representation in armed forces. It is argued that since the army, both officer as well as lower cadre, is chiefly drawn from Punjab, it allows the province to enforce its hegemony over the smaller provinces. While there is no doubt that Punjab benefits more due to higher representation in the army, it remains to be seen whether the army is systematically and consciously working/conniving to ensure Punjab’s interests. The key questions are: does the army systematically and, more importantly, intentionally safeguard Punjab’s interest or is the army merely protecting and promoting its institutional interests and Punjab due to its dominance in the army which gets “spill over” benefits? In my personal opinion, Punjab’s dominance primarily springs from other reasons such as an unfair National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, excessive centralisation, ideological stress on promotion of political Islam and (only to some extent) from the armed forces. There is absolutely no doubt that Punjab dominates the armed forces both in the jawan as well as officer cadre. The armed forces have a tremendous budget allocated to them (a huge portion of it is not quantified even though Miss Ayesha Siddiqua’s book does make a good attempt). Consequently, as a result, the benefits accruing to the army affect more Punjabi households than other provinces. And these benefits are extraordinary ranging from subsidised commercial plots, after retirement high profile civilian jobs to memberships at paltry rates to otherwise very expensive clubs. However, a closer look would reveal that most of these benefits are actually accruing to three districts of Attock, Jhelum, and Rawalpindi. The high recruitment from these areas is a legacy of colonial times. Yes there’s also a spill over effect to other areas, but the economic benefits within Punjab are primarily restricted to these areas. Secondly, even though it is true that Punjab’s higher representation allows the province more benefits, the army’s interests may or may not always be completely synonymous with Punjab’s interests. Yes, these may overlap at times but we need stronger evidence to conclude that the army is a non-elected political institution solely geared to ensure Punjab’s hegemony. Let’s not forget that the army has intervened twice to remove Nawaz Sharif, a Punjabi politician. The first was a completely chaotic situation which held strong possibilities of a clash between the federal security and Punjab police (1993). The second time, the army moved to protect itself as an institution and deposed Nawaz Sharif after he had dismissed General Musharraf, who was a muhajir. Before the whole Musharraf drama occurred, Nawaz Sharif was actually trying to make peace with India. It is argued that the army staged Kargil to derail any form of peace process taking place at that time. Musharraf’s coup is an interesting case as it took place when Musharraf was not even the chief, as he had already been dismissed. He had already been deposed therefore, there was no “official” obligation for the corps commanders to follow him. The majority of corps commanders who brought the coup were from Punjab and they moved to ensure the preservation of their institution’s privileged status and had no qualms in deposing Nawaz. For the army, its own interests reign supreme and these may or may not always coincide with that of Punjab and its civilian rulers. Likewise, there have been claims that the army’s operations have targeted Karachi and tribal areas where as avoiding a similar kind of crackdown on Punjab. This on the surface is true, but in my opinion has less to do with protecting Punjabi interests and more due to ground realities and pragmatism. For example, let’s take Karachi. Karachi cannot be compared to any other city in Pakistan, let alone Punjab. It is extremely heterogeneous and also became ethnically charged over the years leading to high rate of politically motivated crimes. Many criminals were, in fact, backed by political parties who, curiously, were in alliance with the government and yet fighting each other through proxies. The situation kept on deteriorating and yet it was simply not possible for the government to take action as doing so would either hurt its own interests ( if action was across the board) or further exacerbate the political divide (if targeted at MQM only). Controlling such a situation actually needed an “apolitical” force like the Rangers as the government would have been unable to do much. Similarly in tribal areas, the problem was that the government had lost its writ and terrorists had virtually created a state within state by being in control of a territory. Although Punjabi Taliban also exist, the overall writ of the state is still intact and moreover Punjabi Taliban have also officially renounced violence. When the overall writ of state is intact (and militants are not in control of a territory) then operation takes a different form. That is why in Punjab the operation has been conducted in a more targeted manner and extremists like Malik Ishaq have been killed. Moreover some religious elements in Punjab, like Hafiz Saeed, do not pose a similar kind of threat to internal security which the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) did. The army’s reluctance to conduct larger action on the same pattern as of tribal areas may be motivated by these factors rather than protecting Punjab’s interests. However, having said that, the army may not be always consciously safeguarding and promoting Punjab’s interest; its ideological orientation does have some effect. Ideologically, the armed forces are geared to hold up Islamic values as well as Pakistani nationalism in terms of their orientation and identity. This ideological orientation, designed chiefly to ensure internal cohesiveness and combating zeal, is also identical with the general state nurtured ideology which tries to negate ethnic plurality. So whenever the army is in direct power, its ideological thrust amalgamates with and, in fact, reinforces that of the broader state’s cultivated ideology. In fact that is why the armed forces are viewed as more ‘patriotic’ by a substantial chunk of the Punjabi middle-class as they appear to hold the same values as that of the latter. Moreover, the centralised modus operandi of the army, though originally designed for military and professional purposes, gels well with the overall centralised state structure when the army is in power. Thus, it is small wonder that every military rule has seen a reinforcement of the centralised way of governance, which has managed to increase the ethnic rift during every rule. Personally I think that the relationship between the army and Punjab’s dominance exists, but is somewhat murky to be conclusive with respect to causality. Dominance, even if attributed to Punjab’s high representation in the armed forces, is not always a result of their (armed forces) conscious efforts. Yes, there are times when the interests of the province and army will coincide, but the army does not consciously, at least most of the time, connive to promote Punjabi interests. Yes, if we change the army’s composition it will ensure more benefits to other provinces, but may not change the centralised structure favouring Punjab. The over emphasis on population-based distribution of resources is diverting too many resources to Punjab’s advantage. The overall state structure with all its political institutions, elected and non-elected, are geared towards excessive centralisation both administratively and ideologically. This centralised structure is the major culprit and it has Punjab as its major beneficiary. Beneficiary parties, irrespective of their ethnicity, seldom give up privileges voluntarily. The better way to wriggle out of this situation would be to decentralise, remove emphasis on promotion of political Islam and, yes, may be divide Punjab into smaller provinces. This is one of the reasons why I am all for a Saraiki province. In the NFC award, the percentage weightage of revenue collection and poverty has to increase. [poll id="686"]