Stories about Pakistan from March, 2007
Pakistan: On Rawalpindi
Light Within on the history of Rawalpindi. “The bustling city of Rawalpindi has a lot more to offer than a traffic mess, broken roads and haze-filled atmosphere. The city’s history spreads over several millennia. Archaeologists believe that a distinct culture flourished on this plateau even 3,000 years ago.”
Hindi Blogosphere: Hi-tech Blogger Meet and Match Making over Blogs!
Its no use telling that I've been quite busy off late with some unexpected emergency at office & the usual banter!! ;) So without much ado, lets have a peek into the world of Hindi blogging & know whats going on there!! Shrish asked some frequently questions from the Inscript...
Pakistan: A harsh look
Behind the Chairman's Door takes a harsh look at Pakistan. “In Pakistan, the only goal is to get more money, no matter it be by honest or dishonest means. The traffic police take bribes to not write a citation. The city police take bribes to register cases, real or false....
Pakistan: Dangerous Construction
Metroblogging Islamabad points out how unregulated construction activity is dangerous. “The death of an Indian national in a traffic accident caused by the construction of an underpass at Islamabad's China Chowk is tragic. Regrettably, it has taken a death for the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the local administration to...
Pakistan: What's the news?
the olive ream takes a gut-splittingly funny look at News. “A ministerial committee met recently, in essence, to declare war. Eight months in arrears. Apparently Ehud Olmert, apart from all his other screw-ups, also forgot to officially declare war last July. The first Lebanon war was classified ‘Operation Peace for...
Pakistan: Back in 1959
Light Within has a wonderful collection of advertisements from a 1959 publication. “I own a copy of Pakistan Railway's time table published in November of 1959. Besides train timings, it has a section of advertisements which is a great glimpse into our national past. I've selected following 8 advertisements from...
Pakistan: Lawlessness and the President
chapati mystery on the situation in Pakistan, and how it threatens Musharraf's seat of power. “Two weeks ago, General Musharraf suspended the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on vague corruption charges. Since then, daily riots and protests have broken out in major cities; the...
Pakistan: At the Badshahi Mosque
MumbaiGirl, who is an Indian living in London, travels to Pakistan. “At the Badshahi Mosque I was immediately reminded of Fatehpur Sikri. There’s something so right about the squareness that the Mughals achieved. The body feels right enclosed in a space like this, precisely because it doesn’t feel enclosed.”
India, Pakistan: Google and Local
I, Me, Myself on how even as organisations cater to an international audience, they don't always get the local preferences right. “The text on the Google Pakistan page in Punjabi has been written in the Gurmukhi script, which most Punjabis in the Pakistani part of Punjab can not read (except,...
South Asia: Brown people in the UK
Pickled Politics on brown people and the government in UK. “Although I’ve frequently explained the process and the reasoning behind which the Labour government has engaged with brown people in the UK, especially Muslims, I haven’t explained it properly in one article.”
Pakistan: The judiciary
Whisk on the accountability of the judiciary. “Since this debacle with the Chief Justice began, numerous jurists and lawyers have resigned from their posts and boycotted the courts in protest, because apparently, the supreme judicial power in the land cannot be held accountable for any misconduct.”
South Asia: On culture and belonging
Sepia Mutiny has a moving post on belonging to various cultures – by birth, accident, choice and necessity. “No one has the right to be the arbiter of who does and does not get to participate in their culture. Such judgmental “guardians” had the genetic fortune or fate to be...
Pakistan: The Black Madonna
Light Within on the authenticity of the Black Madonna in various cultures. “Believe it or not — she is black! Her features, in most instances, are non-European! And ironically, most of these images are located in Catholic churches in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Now I am...
Israel: Death of a Coach
Israeli blogger Aussie Dave writes about the death of Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer after his team's defeat against Ireland. “While the family are saying that stress probably killed him, it is likely that if stress did not do the job, many Pakistanis would have,” he explains.
South Asia: Cricket Victories and Upsets
The Cricket World Cup 2007 appeared to have thrown quite a few surprises up for grabs over the weekend. Ireland won the match against Pakistan, and Bangladesh won the match against India. These outcomes were rather unexpected, especially the former one. The blogosphere has been buzzing with commentary and reflection...
Pakistan: The attack on GEO
Metroblogging Islamabad on the attack of Freedom of the Press in Pakistan. “Punjab Police entered Geo News office building in evening, shattered glasses and started shelling within office premises. Rubber Bullets were fired on reporters, camera men, hence injuring a few people as well. The camera coverage was demanded to...
South Asia: Marriage of Convenience, explosion of Hindi blogs, time for a regime change, women in the Middle East
The latest buzz from different South Asian blogs: Bangladesh: After a visit to an old age home in Kolkata Sadiq M. Alam of Inspirations and Creative Thoughts thinks just as children, old people are the most beautiful people on planet earth. Adhunika Blog is vocal against the marriage of convenience,...
South Asia: Inter Immigrant Solidarity
Sepia Mutiny on inter-immigrant solidarity in the US. “There are many layers of solidarity here: Islam, immigration, and a lot of professional overlap, particularly in the taxi and livery cab sector. Choudhury told me that Islam teaches that whenever there is tragedy in the community, anyone who is in a...
Pakistan: block on Blogger has been lifted! Until…?
According to Dr Awab Alvi, co-founder of the Pakistani “Don’t Block The Blog” campaign, the block imposed on blogs hosted on Blogger has been lifted for about a week. The Don't Block The Blog campaign was launched in response to the blanket ban on the Blogspot.com blogging platform instituted by...
Pakistan: On protests and politics
iFaqeer on the political developments in Pakistan. “You see, one thing I have always said about Pakistan is that one of the problems we have in keeping our governments honest and our military in its barracks is that we don't, as a rule, do street protests about actual government high-handedness–or...
Pakistan: On Maps
Light Within on (mis)representation on the world map. “In Mercator’s map Greenland is bigger than Africa, which is in reality 14 times larger. Scandinavia is shown to be the same size as India although it is actually only one third the size. The erstwhile USSR (22.4 million square kilometres) seems...
