Mullahabad

Alright my friends, the game of chess being played between the Mullahs of Lal Masjid and government is coming to a conclusion with the government making all the wrong moves and the mullahs holding all the key pieces. The victory of the mullahs is a couple of moves away.

” Chaudhry Shujaat, who has the government’s mandate to resolve the issue through dialogue, held on Tuesday night his second meeting in three days with Maulana Abdul Aziz and Maulana Abdur Rashid Ghazi, the heads of the two institutions, to exchange views with them and find a way out of the crisis.
According to the sources, he promised to the two Maulanas that the seven mosques demolished by the Capital Development Authority as unauthorised structures would be rebuilt.” (DAWN April 11, 07)

The city of Islamabad is no stranger to chess. Since its birth it has witnessed many such games and have seen power changing hands in a couple of moves but this new game is by far the most important one so far. This game has the power to change the political scene of Pakistan for generations to come since the stakes are too high. The future economy, defense, culture and progress are all on the line where the winner takes all.

The inability of our government to face the issues head on had been legendary even before the current government took residence in the foothills of Margala Hills but Mushy Brigade may go down in history as the most gutless bunch ever to hold power in Islamabad. The government’s failure to expose the true faces of these mullahs gave them a shot of encouragement and an opportunity to gain public support for their agenda in the name of religion. By caving in to their demands to reconstruct seven “ILLEGALLY” built mosques, the government has shown its weakness one more time and has presented its jugular to the Mullahs.

So my friends, if any of you are planning on grabbing public land, building without permits on the illegally grabbed land, taking possession of a public library by force, threatening law abiding businessmen, kidnapping, torturing and illegally detaining citizens of Pakistan, calling for suicide bombings in the capital or getting your car confiscated because illegal weapons are found in it; I beg you to do so in the name of Islam so you can negotiate with the president of the ruling political party and ask for even more. If you don’t you might end up with a nice 9mm hole in your chest.

Pakistan’s Most Wanted

Dawn is reporting today (April 10th, 07) that Prime minister Shaukat Aziz has requested all Cabinet ministers, Advisers and high ranking government officials to attend a special meeting for a group photograph. According to a senior minister, such an event has never taken place.

The whispers coming from Islamabad for the last few days have been pointing towards the end of days for the Prime Minister, probably for the CJ debacle (more on that tomorrow). Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope at least one member of the triumvirate says goodbye while the other two try to save their behinds in the current political storm.

Thanks to Allah

Well thanks to Allah we were humiliated in the world cup, or was it kismet? I forgot but I do remember that it was not because our team played badly, no sir.

The team that represented Pakistan in the World Cup was probably the weakest team Pakistan ever assembled. Now every so called expert is coming out of the woodworks to explain why the team was defeated. The most interesting of all reasons was given by P.J Mir the media manager of the Pakistani team. He stated openly what people were quietly whispering about before the World Cup. He squarely put the blame on the team’s lack of practice on their new found obsession with religion.

The article written by Shahriyar Khan after the death of Bob Woolmer also pointed out Bob’s reservations with this new trend and that he wasn’t able to get enough coaching time because of that. It was also disclosed in another newspaper that ECB after the tour of England had politely complained to the PCB over the team’s group prayer on the ground in Lords during the test match. P.J Mir also stated that Inzamam used to lead the prayers in the galley of the aircraft during flights.

Ever since this news came out it spread in blogistan like wildfire. An overwhelming majority of posters were of the view that it was their right to say prayers wherever they saw fit. I have to disagree with that wholeheartedly.

I believe in an individual’s right to religious freedom but I do have an issue with public display of religion especially in foreign countries. The team could have easily prayed inside the pavilion but they made a point with the public display in front of thousands of spectators, I am fairly certain that they felt morally superior by doing so.

For all those who would grill me for saying this, all I have to say is that Cricket is a profession not just sports. These players are paid very handsomely to represent our country and it is their professional responsibility to play well. Cricket at the highest level is not easy and require hours of practice everyday. I once read Justin Langer’s interview in which he disclosed that in order to stay in form he practiced batting five to six hours everyday in the nets.

If PCB is looking into wholesale changes in the next squad, they will have to address this issue. Professional appearance and conduct will have to be stressed upon and the dosage of religion will have to be reduced.

Hugs and Guns

First I would like to congratulate my fellow Pakistanis who were blessed with another court system couple of days ago. In the presence of our regular court system, Federal Shriat Court and local jirgas; the establishment of yet another court system shows the world our love and respect for law and order and why Pakistanis are the most law abiding citizens in the world (humiliating the Chief Justice not withstanding).

The pride and joy of this news hadn’t even gone down one bit when I read in DAWN that the new born court had already ordered a decree in less time than it takes an SHO to sharpen his pencil before writing a “kachi” FIR.

“ISLAMABAD: The Lal Masjid administration on Sunday issued a fatwa against Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar and asked the government to “punish and sack” her from the cabinet for being snapped with paragliders of Paris in what the mosque administration called an ‘obscene manner’.” (DAWN April 9th, 2007)

The Mullahs of Lal Masjid have done it again people. The guardians of our morality have shown us once again that the darkness of liberalism is upon us and we need to act fast before this darkness pushes us further into the abyss of moderation.

After reading this news I felt shame, anger and frustration at the same time. Those of you who have felt that combination before know what I am talking about. When your legs shake violently and you want to break someone’s head. These ignorant mullahs have nothing better to talk about than a middle aged woman hugging a man? How many of these mullahs came out and strongly condemned the murder of Zill-e-Huma committed by someone of their ilk?

Seems like the same Mullahs who were just a week ago threatening the government with suicide bombings have no problem killing innocent people to advance their agenda but God help them they will go to extremes to punish a woman hugging a man.

GRAND OPENING

Welcome to the “Grand Opening” of my very own Chaikhanah. Think of it as a rudimentary lesson in private enterprise. LiptonDiCha has severed ties with the original chaikhanah to open his own khoka just around the corner. Our specials include free speech, no censorship and uninterrupted flow of ideas. This blog is created to provide a platform for all Pakistanis to vent their frustrations and to allow free flow of information. The proprietor is of the view that free expression of ideas is the foundation of a true democratic society.

This blog will be run under the following guidelines.

• As stated above, free speech will run this khoka. Say whatever you want about anything you want. Just keep in mind that the rules of common human decency will apply. Don’t say anything that you wouldn’t say in front of your mother.

• The proprietor of this Khoka is vehemently opposed to any kind of censorship. No comments will be censored unless they were way off topic or needlessly inflamatory. If you are dying to say something a bit off topic, please e-mail it to me and if I deem appropriate, I will give it a separate post. Other than that vent your frustration all you want.

• I assume that everyone who will comment on this blog is an adult so you will be given credibility by default. Don’t use bogus facts or irrelevent information to support your arguments.

So my patrons and fellow bloggers, I announce the new Khoka officially opened. A fresh kettle of tea will be brewed once every couple of days unless there is breaking news requiring immediate attention. Now sit back, relax and enjoy our chai.