The country drowns

For the past few months I was living in a utopia: a place where the main headline at the primetime news is that an undercover reporter has cnfrmd that people are gracious enough to give up their seats for elderly people in trains and the newspaper places the news of a salesgirl to have not been attentive enough to a tourist on the front page. While living here news coming from Pakistan sounds nothing less than news coming from hell.

Over the past few years good news has become more of a luxury for Pakistanis but nothing has been worse than watever has happened over the past one year. can it get any worse? I hope not but I think it would.

We have gone spirally downwards from the country beside India to the country that killed its ex prime minister, from the country that the whole Muslim world looked up to as the ‘leader’ to a country that trained people like Faisal Shahzad who cant even be loyal to their own country and from the country of sports champions to the country of sportsmen who can throw away just about any game for a few thousand dollars. I wish we could get back to those simple times wen people didnt even know Pakistan exits

And then we wonder why people dont want to help the victims of a flood that has drowned one-fifth of the country. Do we need any more reasons? Well, I can give you a few more. The ‘perfect’ record of our President is just one of the many for a start.

If you have read my blog previously, I am sure you have noticed that I am one of the few crazy optimists who still believe there is hope for Pakistan. But with each passing moment, my hope is dwindling. I dont know wat to expect any more.

 

Of shoes and men with balls

Amidst all the heart wrenching news that has been coming from Pakistan for the past two weeks now, I cant believe things have started to sound so funny all of a sudden.

Just a day ago a pair of shoes were hurled at President Zardari in Birmingham and no matter how much Kaira is denying the incident, there must be some truth in it as it has been covered by international media. Not that I believe everything that the international media says but if the news was wrong in fact, I am still unable to comprehend why was the transmission of most news channels banned in Pakistan? And from what I have read, I understand Jang distributors were threatened too and thus the distribution got delayed by several hours. Whether it really happened or not, it did bring smiles to faces of thousands of Pakistanis all over the world who were tingled just by the thought of it. Add to it some of the funniest tweets and there you have it: a comical whirlwind which was more of a relief for the distressed people.

But there was some even better stuff coming up. In the last test between Pakistan and England, Umar Gul emerged as the highest scoring Pakistani batsman. It was actually a bit embarrassing to see how the rest of the team just toppled. The 2nd test was proving to be no different till later during the day, Zulqarnain Haider and Mohammed Amir came on the crease. Magic happened from then onwards. It made me proud to see (while following score on cricinfo.com) how these new young players were fighting back for perhaps not a victory but for an honorable defeat. And then came Ajmal. His maiden 50 alongwith Haider’s 88 gave Pakistan some hope. We have a match on our hands now, baby!!!

We should now only have 10 bowlers in the team alongwith a wicketkeeper who can bat. That actually seems like the only combination that’s working for a change!

 

Happy Independence Day?

32 killed in Karachi over MP’s murder. 2.5 million affected by floods. President chilling in the UK. And begging. Mostly chilling though.

Whether I like her not, Fatima Bhutto’s tweet summed up the whole situation in a manner that can only be called complete.

Pakistan is going through a really tough time and the President’s visit could not be more untimely than this. During this one past week, there has been a plane crash killing 152 innocent civilians, the country is drowning in a flood which is most probably the worst in 80 years, an MPA has been murdered brutally in a masjid and the violence that followed has already taken lives of nearly 50 people already. And its not only about people who have died, what about the people who are still alive? There has been a financial fall out of all these events. The flood has hugely affected agricultural lands in both Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, 2.5 million people have been displaced and immediately need food and shelter, vehicles worth millions of rupees were torched yesterday in Karachi and businessmen have lost billions in the strike today.

And our politicians are happy justifying their fake degrees while our President is partying in London in his suite at Hyatt Regency where he has booked 18 rooms on the same floor where half of the rooms will remain unoccupied during his visit. I wish the President had listened to other politicians for a change!

Just 10 days later Pakistan will be celebrating its 63rd independence anniversary, but is there something to celebrate?