It is indeed a pleasure to announce that I have launched a sister blog for Twenty20 Cricket. If you want to keep up to date with the ongoings in the Twenty20 world, head on to the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup blog. There you can get access to the upcoming world cup schedule, squads, updated news and much more.
Do not forget to subscribe to the blog feed. Twenty20 Awayyy!
The movie discusses all these topics while it follows the story of three individuals in three different cities; Lahore, Chicago and London. The movie does not go all out in one or another direction on any of the topics, but does tend to show opinion from both sides. I thought the movie was good food for thought and layed out the arguments for every one to make their own judgement. It also brings out many points which need to be researched further.
Regardless of what your opinion is on any of the above issues, I suggest that you go and see this movie for yourself. Efforts like these need to be supported and an open debate about all issues needs to take place in this society. Self accountability is the first step towards widespread agreement in the society. If you can, please do not wait for the DVD and go watch this movie for yourself.
As far as the Fatwa is concerned, I urge the Maulana to see the movie before spitting out vindictive judgements. Isn't it time already that our spiritual and religious teachers follow a more systematic process of issuing a Fatwa?
Do not agree with my opinions? Let me know. Leave a comment and I will reply right back.
Polls are always a good way to judge a community's point of view on an issue. Often, there is a divided result which portrays how differently a community views something.
This isn't the case here. An overwhelming majority of the voters (50% next to 20% for the other option) have expressed the need to reform the Election Commission. I agree with the results as the state of affairs in this country demand that an independant Election Commission holds fair, free and transparent elections.
Do not agree with my opinions? Let me know. Leave a comment and I will reply right back.
According to resources close to tribal leaders in the northeren tribal areas of Pakistan, NATO and American forces are gathering in mass for the first time after the first operation in Afghanistan.
An attack on the Pak-Afghan border is imminent. The role of Pakistan Army is still unexplained as reports are that NATO and Pakistan Army officials have met a few hours ago to discuss a possible attack on the tribal areas, said to have supported Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.
I have to say that this has been brewing for a few days when American diplomats and the White House have been issuing statements regarding individual action in Pakistani territories. Despite giving angry statements on these statements, the Pakistani officials do not seem to have a way to stop this from happening.
One can only hope that the government of Pakistan and its Army can pursuade NATO and the Americans to do not indulge in this foolish operation as it will not stop the cycle of violence that has been going on in these areas since the then celeberated 'Mujahideen' helped Pakistan, USA and the rest of the free world send back Soviet troops back to the Kremlin.
Do not agree with my opinions? Let me know. Leave a comment and I will reply right back.
It seems like the whole world is busy discussing the fate of Harry Potter. Now that the final book is out, millions are laborously going through the book page by page towards the solution.
There are many of us, readers and non-readers of the Harry Potter series, who wish to know the end before or without reading the last pages. The overall media hype is frustrating for some one like me who is a non-reader, yet slightly curious of the magic boy's fortunes.
Well I have peeked at the final pages and am proudly telling you what happens at the end. Read the full article to find out the spoiler.
All right impatient people, Harry Potter is not only well and alive but gets married, has a bunch of kids and lives happily ever after.
Our new Polling feature places a new poll on the top of the blog every week. Our first blog poll asked:
"What advice would you give to President Musharraf?"
The results are in and 50% of the participants chose the following option:
Participate in The Dosti Show weekly poll and help bring consensus in the issues that matter.
Read The Full Article!What the restoration of the Chief Justice really means?
Here is my point of view while living in Pakistan. The verdict that was delivered today was as much a street verdict as a defining one in the judicial history of Pakistan. We have to remember that the 13 member panel is a constitutional body. The parameters for their interpretation is defined by the constitution. How they did so today, given the situation and place in history of this country is unique. They were perhaps given a chance that no other panel before them ever had. A strong public movement by the lawyers, backed by public sentiment, in the presence of increasingly attentive and free media helped those 13 judges as much as any of their own convictions.
But in the aftermath, what does this mean? Some misconceptions first. Contrary to common belief the President can not be made party to any case that is brought to the supreme court. There is not going to be a situation which leads to a conflict of interest. The lawyers on both side have already announced that they will not be advocating in the presence of the Chief Justice. Also to say that there has been a backhand deal is pure heresy and needs to be stopped. Also remember that 13 judges gave a unanimous decision today.
The judiciary has taken its first steps towards independence and freedom. But the real tests start now. What will the court do about the missing persons cases which the Chief Justice had championed. What will the court decide about President Musharraf's re-election in uniform, or without it even. There is the case of upcoming elections. I think the biggest step this new, independant and free judiciary can take is to reform the election commission and give it a similar boost that it got today.
A free and independant judiciary means a lot to this country. There is a long way to go but we need to understand how justice works. The Principle of Necessity that was used uptil now needed such a historic judgement to give way to a new principle. Judiciary uses presidence. This verdict will be used in the future litigation. More importantly, today there is a belief that this new judiciary will provide justice. It is upto the judiciary now to speed up the important cases so that a system is established. The reality of new media and increased public awareness today is going to be a strong support for any one who dares to do the right thing.
It is a day to rejoice but also a day to look forwards towards consolidation. Moreover we need to make sure that no political deal making goes on and a free and fair election is held by the end of this year.
Geoffrey Francis Lawson, born at the oddly named, Wagga Wagga; New South Wales on December 7, 1957, known as Henry. This is the profile of the new Pakistan Cricket coach. An all Aussie choice pool, also including Dav Whatmore, albeit more desi than Aussie, has resulted in this choice. Trained optometerist by training, perhaps he will be able to fix the short sighteness currently pervailing in PCB.
Not known as much for his coaching abilities as for his media work, he is supposed to be a softer choice for the players in comparison to Whatmore. But that might just not be the case as discussed by Osman Samiuddin in his Cricinfo article.
His pedigree as a tough Australian fast bowler aside, the main question is how much will he be able to support the batsmen, who really need supporting. He has already struck a diplomatic chord with one, we can rest assured, to be his biggest vocal critics. Asking Javed Miandad to play a role with the team was a stroke of genius. It showed that he knew the landscape and also 'keep your friends close and enemies closer'. Javed has responded quickly and positively. How positive it will end up being is for us to see.
Well its not going to take long for us to see how things are going to shape up. The twenty20 worldcup aside, South Africa is due in Pakistan, and then that litmus test for all Pakistan cricket, a tour of India.
For now its time for optimism and good wishes. Good luck Henry.
“Every country has an army, Pakistan Army has a country” – Anonymous
Besides tens of thousands of Army Men working in government-owned airline and other government-owned industries here's list of Army Officers in Civilian Govt. Departments and Government owned industries and civilian institutions of Pakistan including Universities. Pakistan should be called "Army Inc."
General Pervez Musharraf (President of Pakistan)
Major General (Retd) Muhammad Anwar (President of Azad Kashmir);
Lt Gen (Retd) Khalid Maqbool (Governor Punjab);
Commander Khalil (Governor NWFP);
Lt General (Retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi (Federal Education Minister);
Col (Retd) S.K. Tressler (Federal Minorities & Culture Minister);
Lt Gen. Hamid Javed (Chief Executive's Chief of Staff);
Lt General Muneer Hafeez (Chief of NAB);
Major General Usman Shah (Deputy Chief of NAB);
Major General Shujaat Zameer (Deputy Chief of NAB);
Major General Abdul Jabbar Bhatti (Chief, Regional
Accountability Bureau, RAB,Punjab);
...
Air Vice Marshal Zakaullah (Chief of RAB NWFP);
Major General Tariq Bashir (Chief of RAB Sindh);
Major General Owais Mushtaq (Chief of RAB Balochistan) ;
Lt General (Retd) Hamid Nawaz (Secretary Defence);
Air Marshal (Retd) Zahid Anees (Secretary Defence Production);
Lt General (Retd) Saeedul Zafar (Secretary Railways);
Major General (Retd) Fazal Ghafoor (Ambassador to North Korea);
Brigadier (Retd) Abdul Majeed Khan (Ambassador to Tajikistan);
Major General (Retd) Salimullah (Ambassador to UAE);
Major General (Retd) Muhammad Hassan Aqeel (Ambassador to Thailand);
Lt General (Retd) Asad Durrani (Ambassador to Saudi Arabia);
Vice Admiral (Retd) Shamoon Aslam Khan (Ambassador to Ukraine);
Air Marshal (Retd) Najeeb Akhtar (Ambassador to Brazil);
Major General Syed Mustafa Anwar Hussain (Ambassador to Indonesia);
Lt General (Retd) Muhammad Shafeeq (Ambassador to Bahrain);
Major General (Retd) Agha Masood Hassan (DG of Postal Services);
Major General Farrukh Javed (Chairman National Highway Authority);
Rear Admiral Ahmad Hayat (Chairman Karachi Port Trust);
Rear Admiral Sikandar Viqar Naqvi (Chairman Port Qasim Authority);
Vice Admiral Tauqir Hussain Naqvi (Chairman National Shipping Corporation) ;
Major General (Retd) Muhammad Hassan (Chief of National Fertilizer Corporation) ;
A Lt. General (Chairman Pakistan Steel Mills);
Lt Colonel (Retd) Akbar Hussain (Export Processing Zone Authority);
Major General Shehzad Alam Malik (Chairman Pakistan Telecommunications Authority);
Air Vice Marshal Azhar Masood (Chairman National Telecommunications Authority);
Brigadier (Retd) Muhammad Saleem (Chairman NADRA);
Brigadier Mirza Babar Aziz (DG NADRA);
Brigadier (Retd) Muhammad Anwar Khan (DG NADRA NWFP);
Major General Raza Hussain (Chairman SUPARCO);
Major General Sabihuddin Bokhari (Surveyor General of Pakistan);
Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema (DG National Crisis Management Cell);
Air Marshal (Retd) Shafeeq Haider (Chairman Federal Public Service Commission);
Lt General Arshad Hussain (Member Federal Public Service Commission);
Lt General (Retd) Jehangir Nasrullah (Chairman Punjab Public Service Commission);
Major General (Retd) Arshad Chaudhry (Member Punjab Public Service Commission);
Major General (Retd) Arshadullah Tarar (Member Punjab Public Service Commission);
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Aliuddin (DG Civil Aviation Authority);
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Arshad Saleem (Deputy DG Civil Aviation Authority);
Major General Zafar Abbas (DG Anti-Narcotics Force);
Major General Syed Haider Javed (DG National Logistics Cell);
Major General (Retd) Inayatullah Khan Niazi (DG Auqaf, the Dep’t. of Historical Relics);
Major General Pervez Akmal (MD OGDC);
Brigadier (Retd) Rizvan Ashraf (General Manager OGDC);
Brigadier (Retd) Ishtiaq Ali Khan (MD Pakistan Mineral Development Authority);
Major General (Retd) Hamid Hassan Butt (Chairman Pakistan Railways);
Lt General (Retd) Syed Shujaat Ali Khan (Rector Engineering University Lahore);
Lt General (Retd) Arshad Mehmood (Vice Chancellor Punjab University);
Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Sardar Khan (Vice Chancellor Engineering University Peshawar);
Captain (Retd) U.A.G. Isani (Vice Chancellor Islamabad University);
Lt General (Retd) Sardar Ali (DG National Institute of Public Administration) ;
Brigadier (Retd) Maqsoodul Hassan (DG Directorate of Education);
Brigadier Muhammad Ejaz (Home Secretary Punjab);
Brigadier Abdur Rehman (Director Health NWFP);
Brigadier Shadab (Secretary C&W Punjab)
Brigadier Anees (Chairman Punjab Privatization Commission);
Colonel (Retd) Shahid Qureshi (DIG Sindh Telecommunications) ;
Colonel (Retd) Ghulam Hussain (Secretary S&GAD NWFP);
Brigadier Mukhtar (Home Secretary, Sindh);
Brigadier Zaheer Qadri (DG, KDA, Sindh and not Secretary C&W NWFP);
Brigadier (Retd) Akhtar (Secretary to Governor Sindh);
Major General (Retd) Imtiaz (Chairman Pakistan Athletics Federation);
Brigadier Saulat Abbas (DG Pakistan Sports Board).
Brig. Khalid Javed, DG Projects Directorate, NADRA, Islamabad
Col Talmeez Abbas, DG Dataware Housing, NADRA, Islamabad
Maj. Tahir M. Alvi DDG, Project Directorate, NADRA, Islamabad
Brig Safdar Husain Awan is the Secy. (C&W) NWFP Brig Qadri is DG KDA;
Brig Mohtarim is Home Secretary Sindh
Major General (Retd) Hashmi, Registrar, Pakistan Engineering Council;
Major General (Retd) Anis Bajwa, Chairman PTDC;
Major Genera (Retd) Asif Riaz Bokhari, NRB;
Brig Muhammad Toseef Uz Zaman Khan, Civil Aviation Authority;
Brig Saeed Ahmed Malik, WAPDA Head Qtrs. Lahore;
Brig Muhammad Iqbal, WAPDA HQ Lahore;
Brig Mushtaq Ahmed, WAPDA HQ, Lahore;
Brig Khalid Sohail Cheema, DG Pak PWD;
Brig Shamshad Khan, GM NWFP NHA;
Brig (Retd) Zareen Khan, Project In charge Ghazi Brotha Dam WAPDA;
Brig (Retd) Mukhtar Ahmed Tariq, GM Admin OGDC;
Brig (Retd) Muhammad Hamayoun Khan, GM Procurement OGDC;
Brig (Retd) Sardar Javed Ashraf, MD KW&SB;
Brig (Retd) Nisar, IG Prisons (Sindh);
Brig (Retd) Zafar Ahmed Malik, Karachi Building & Control Authority;
Brig (Retd) Aftab Ahmed, DG PHA;
Brig (Retd) Dilbar Husain Naqvi, MD National Construction Company;
Colonel Rauf, IG Prisons, NWFP;
Colonel Asif Jamal, MD, Multan Development Authority;
Colonel (Retd) Najam ul Hasan Malik, TMO Rawalpindi;
Colonel (Retd) Hafiz Abdur Rehman Malik, MD WASA, Rawalpindi;
Colonel (Retd) Kanwar Muhammad Sherbaz Khan, GM CS&E OGDC;
Lt Col Muhammad Azim, GM NHA;
LT Col Naqeeb Amjad Malik, Manager CS&E OGDC;
Lt Col (Retd) Aziz ul Haque Mirza, Member (Operations) NHA;
Lt Col (Retd) Hafeezullah Awan, MD WASA Quetta.
Major General (Retd) Shujaat Ali Khan, Ambassador to Morocco;
Major General (Retd) Badruddin, Ambassador to Brunei;
Vice Admiral(Retd) Khalid Mir, Ambassador to Lebanon;
Brig (Retd) Muhammad Nisar, Ambassador to Argentina;
Brig. Sikandar Ali, Director, Anti Narcotics Force;
Brig (R) Saeed Ahmad Rafi, Director General, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (He was inducted by Gen Musharraf into Foreign Service as in charge of overseas polling for Presidential Referendum in April);
Brig (R) Mian Khalid Habib, Chief of Protocol, M/o foreign Affairs;
Brig Tipu Sultan, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
Group Capt (R) Khalid Aziz Babar, Director General, M/o Foreign Affairs;
Naval Lt (R) Ghalib Iqbal, Consul General, Toronto (son-in-law of former Air Chief Anwar Shamim) {Anwer Shamim is a Qadiyani and had served General Zia {Ameer ul Momineen as per Jamat-e-Islami} Anwer Shamim has huge ranches in California, USA, which he and his brother in Law Khursheed Anwer Mirz made through trafficking Narcotics during so-called Afghan Jihad {the Time Weekly that carried this news was banned in Pakistan in 80s}.
Naval Lt (R) Qasim Raza Mutaqqi, Counselor, Rome;
Col (R) Salik Nawaz, Deputy Chief of Protocol, M/o Foreign Affairs;
Capt (R) Masood Akhtar, Deputy Chief of Protocol, M/o Foreign Affairs;
Capt (R) Shaukat Muqaddam, Counselor, Dublin;
Capt (R) Zaighamuddin Azam Khan, Counselor, Berlin;
Capt (R) Sohail Ittehad Hussain, Director General, M/o Foreign Affairs;
Capt (R) Khalid Durrani, Director, M/o Foreign Affairs.
General ® Jahangeer Karamat, Ambassador of Pakistan in USA.
Brigadier ® Ejaz Shah, Director General Intelligence Bureau.
The above list was of 2002. In 2003, as many as 104 serving and retired Lieutenant Generals, Major Generals or equivalent ranks from other services are among the 1,027 military officers inducted on civilian posts in different ministries, divisions and Pakistani missions abroad after Oct 12, 1999 military takeover. The number of army Brigadiers or their equivalent ranks from the Navy and Air Force is even higher at 160, according to an annexure placed before the Senate library. There have been 14 ambassadors and a high commissioner from the military ranks during this period.Of these 1,027 military officers inducted on civilian posts:
27 military officers have been given the prized grade of 22 while 62 officers have been adjusted in grade 21.
Whopping figures of 150 officers occupy civilian positions in Grade 20.
There are 276 officers between grade 20 and 22 alone.
The nature of their jobs varies from deputation, secondment, re-employment to contract basis.
These military officers occupy civilian posts in a situation where, according to in charge Cabinet Division Raza Hiraj, there are 700 'unabsorbed' surplus civilian employees. There are 33 officers on special duty (OSD) just in grades between 19 and 21.
The range of fields where military officers are working on civilian posts encompasses every sector of human endeavor including communications, education, diplomacy, water and electricity management, information, post office, jails, local bodies, think tanks, industrial production, shipping, minority affairs, population welfare, health, agriculture, railways, highways, housing, labor and manpower, social and women development, law and justice and sub- sectors of sports from cricket to hockey.
A close look at the figures shows that these military personnel occupy:
13 posts in the cabinet division,
5 posts in the commerce ministry,
98 in communications ministry,
113 in the defense division,
52 in the defense production division,
9 in the education ministry,
16 in the establishment division,
24 in the ministry of foreign affairs,
6 in the ministry of food, agriculture and livestock.
There are:
88 military officers working in the ministry of interior,
2 in the health ministry,
6 in the housing and works ministry,
29 in the industries and production ministry,
3 in the information and broadcasting ministry,
58 in the ministry of Information Technology,
25 in the Kashmir affairs and northern affairs ministry,
5 in the labor and manpower division,
17 in the ministry of minorities affairs,
39 in the ministry of petroleum and natural resources,
Just one each in the ministry of population welfare, the planning and development division and the ministry of religious affairs.
There are:
2 military officials working in the revenue division (CBR),
21 in the ministry of science and technology,
72 in the ministry of railways/railway board,
37 in the ministry of water and power,
5 in the ministry of women development,
6 in the Wafaqi Mohtasib (Federal Ombudsmen).
There are another 37 officers who have been inducted under the military's 10 per cent quota in civilian posts over and above these appointments.
In the Foreign Affairs 13 Lieutenants and Major Generals were appointed as ambassadors in different countries, while one Brigadier and a Major also got ambassadorial positions.
Lt-Gen (Retd) Asad Durrani was appointed as ambassador in Riyadh (contract expired on October 2002).
Vice-Admiral (Retd) Shamoon Alam Khan was appointed as ambassador in Kyiv (up to August 28, 2003),
Vice-Admiral (Retd) Khalid M Mir was appointed ambassador in Beirut (up to July 2003),
Lt-Gen (Retd) Nasim Rana as ambassador in Kuala Lumpur (up to July 2003),
Air Marshal (Retd) Muhammad Farooq Qari as ambassador in Tripoli,
Lt-Gen (Retd) Agha Jehangir Ali Khan as ambassador in Mexico,
Maj.-Gen (Retd) Shujaat Ali Khan as ambassador in Rabat (up to September 2003),
Maj.-Gen (Retd) Fazal Ghafoor as ambassador in Tashkent (contract expired on April 2002),
Maj.-Gen (Retd) Salim Ullah as ambassador in Abu Dhabi (up to June 2003),
Lt-Gen (Retd) Mohammad Shafique as ambassador in Bahrain (contract expired on October 2002),
Maj.-Gen (Retd) Muhammad Hassan Aqeel as ambassador in Thailand (up to June 2003),
Maj. Gen (Retd) Syed Mustafa Anwar Hussain as ambassador in Indonesia (up to August 2003)
Maj.-Gen (Retd) Sultan Habib as ambassador in DPR Korea (up to October 2003).
Brigadier Abdul Majid Khan was appointed as ambassador in Dushambe (contract expired on June 2002)
Major Badruddin was posted as high commissioner to Bender Seri Begawen.
In the cabinet division,
Maj.-Gen Khalid Bashir was appointed as Member (Tech) Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) (up to November 2001),
Maj.-Gen Raza Hussain as chairman SUPARCO
Maj.-Gen Shahzada Alam Malik as Chairman PTA.
The above text was probably taken from Military Inc. – Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy by Ayesha Siddiqa.
Dear Readers,
I would like to inform you that Blogger's anti-spam robots had mistakenly flagged The Dosti Show as a spam blog. This caused the blog to be down and my access to it was also blocked. The process to reinstate was lenghty, but finally the authenticity of this blog has been validated by some human at Blogger.com. This is the email I received at the end:
"Hello,
Your blog has been reviewed, verified, and cleared for regular use so that
it will no longer appear as potential spam. If you sign out of Blogger and
sign back in again, you should be able to post as normal. Thanks for your
patience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.
Sincerely,
The Blogger Team"
I hope that you have not been disillusioned due to the absence of new posts. There has been a lot going on in these parts and I will make sure to bring the blog up to date asap.
Meanwhile, thanks for reading the blog and providing such important feedback. All this effort is for you.
Best regards,
Adnan Ali
