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Posts tagged with: Lahore
Mar 5, 2009    |       84 comments

Open letter to citizens of Sri Lanka

by Samad Khurram and Sara Seerat
Published in Daily News (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka FlagThis letter is our expression of deep sorrow and grief at the savage attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team while they were touring our country. As Pakistani citizens, we are shocked, angered, and greatly embarrassed at being the source of such anxiety to the people of Sri Lanka. There never can be a justification for such horrendous acts of violence, and the Pakistani nation strongly condemns this evil act.

The dastardly attacks were carried out by miscreants who do not share the common values that the peaceful citizens of both Sri Lanka and Pakistan cherish and uphold. Pakistan has been the victim of many terrorist attacks in the last few years, and it is evident that this cowardly act was another attempt to cause increased turmoil and chaos in a country that is already suffering through a period of extreme violence and anarchy.

We therefore thank the Sri Lankan team for agreeing to play in Pakistan even when other countries refused citing security concerns. In hindsight, those apprehensions seem very valid, but the courage of the Sri Lankan Cricket Board and players in agreeing to play is laudable, and the nation of Pakistan shall be forever indebted to your country. This tour was crucial for the revival of cricket in Pakistan, and we greatly appreciate your efforts in agreeing to be a part of this process.
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Mar 4, 2009    |       29 comments

This is Not Cricket

Guest blog by Temporal from Baithak Blog

The Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in Lahore yesterday by terrorists. SSS terms this a “shift”. I think it is a “deterioration” or “escalation” of lawlessness. If Pakistan is to retain its independence this tide will not be curbed easily by a solitary act (like the restoration of the judiciary) nor by the efforts of one individual or one institution. Both Zardari led government and the Army under Kayani have appeared ineffective to stem this.

More pertinent is to view Tuesday’s attack in the context of the peace deals in the Swat Valley and the tribal areas .. Prior to the signing of the deals, the matter of the release of militants who did not belong to the Swat area was raised, that is, non-Pashtun militants… However, after deciding on the level of compensation packages for the families of militants killed or injured by the security forces and other matters related to Swat and the tribal areas, the matter of non-Pashtun militants was deferred and the peace agreements were signed. In effect, non-Pashtun militants have been ignored and the attack in Lahore could be a bloody message to the government that the “Punjabi militants” have the capacity to cripple urban centers at any time and place of their choosing. Syed Saleem Shezad

So what should the ordinary citizen do? Packing up and leaving is NOT an option. Burying their heads in the sand? More prayers to Allah? Joining the orthodox fringe? Or if not joining, then fighting them for their rights?
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Mar 4, 2009    |       26 comments

Attack in Lahore – Qui Bono [who benefits]

Guest Blog by Azhar Aslam and Shaista Kazmi

Pakistan Cricketers AttackedPakistan is in a classic ‘cry wolf’ situation. Now that the wolf has come one risks shouting about it at the peril of being called paranoid, liar, crazy or conspiracy theorist. But this unfortunate ‘wolf cry’ of the ‘foreign hand’ may have given a room to manoeuvre and protection to the external players and handlers. Fourteen ( or twelve) gunmen attacked Sri Lankan cricket team and their guards in a coordinated, well planned attack and got away (until now). But fool may be the one who thinks this was a senseless attack with the aim of terrorising ordinary Lahorites. So let us just look at the facts and let everyone draw their own conclusion. The attack has raised many questions which are pertinent and of utmost relevance and must be answered in a forensic manner.

Attackers: These observations are made on the basis of TV footage available.

Attackers were young (apparently 14 in number). They were heavily armed, had latest equipment for communication and had enormous firepower. They were wearing trousers and shirts and shalwar and shirts and travelled by rickshaws and car. They were not classic Taliban lookalike. They managed to transport all this heavy weaponry to Liberty. That must have required planning and human resource.

They must have had more accomplices who helped them escape. After they ran off there must have been transport waiting to ferry them away. So the routes and roads must have been well known. Some of the attackers were already positioned in the roundabout itself.

For escape there must have been at least seven rickshaws (unlikely), 3-4 cars or couple or mini vans or a mixture of these (to carry 14 people unless some of them walked to escape in the ensuing chaos). This means there were at least 3 to 8 other people involved. This brings a group total to about twenty.
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Mar 3, 2009    |       42 comments

Sri Lankan players attack amid a ‘political’ security lapse

lahore-sri-lanka-attackEarly today morning a number of terrorist people on foot attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team as it was approaching Gaddafi Stadium the bus was brutally attacked by almost twelve gunmen as it passed through the Liberty Roundabout.

The bus was miraculously shielded from about two rocket attacks and serious damage was avoided as Police Security escorts retaliated for about twenty-five minutes with heavy gunfire. This sadly resulted in critical injuries to police forces and about five of these selfless public servants lost their lives protecting the lives of our cricketing guests.

Reports initially emerged that quite a number of Sri Lankan players were injured but as the news filtered through two players received serious wounds one was a grazing wound to the chest and the other to the ankle. Remaining players received minor injuries due to flying debris and shrapnel. As of now the Sri Lankan team has been evacuated via a helicopter to Lahore airport for an onwards journey to Sri Lanka via Dubai aboard an Etihad Airways flight

Watching different channels and looking at the footage of the attack, it is clear that religious fundamentalists may have struck yet again. They were armed with hand grenades, rocket launchers, modern rifles and other sophisticated weapons apparently they were with a small beard and looked to belong to Pushtoon origin [?].
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Jan 7, 2009    |       6 comments

Pakistan-Palestine Solidarity Charity Drive – Lahore

Many youngsters from the Pakistan Youth Alliance have started the campaign under the banner of “Pak Palestine Solidarity Movement” they have been holding a Charity drive in Lahore, Their offices are in Defence near Masjid Chowk, and they will be putting up booths at the following places.

  • Friday: 3:00 PM after Jumma Prayers @ Main Market Opposit Jalal Sons.
  • Saturday: 12:00 Noon – 5:00 PM @ Regal Chawk The Mall Near Masjid-e-Shohada.
  • Saturday: 06:00 PM – 11:00 PM @ Main Market Opposite Jalal Sons.

They are looking for Volunteers to man their booths and more importantly Donations, Their Collection will go through Muslim Hands.

You can contact the following for further Information

Direct donations to
Muslim Hands: http://www.muslimhands.org/en/gb/
IFRC: http://www.ifrc.org/

Maryam Kanwar: 0346-5084265 & 0331-5105916 & Ahsan Tariq: 0346-4117787

Dec 14, 2008    |       82 comments

Indian Planes Violate Pakistani Airspace – An act of WAR

It is being widely reported that around 12:40am today December 14, 2008 fully armed Indian fighter jets violated Pakistani airspace at two specific locations, one around Kashmir area and the other near Lahore traveling 4km into the territory.  Agile Pakistani fighter jets were scrambled and distracted the Indian encroachment very quickly.

The official response by Indian sources is said to be an inadvertent mistake.  But one must seriously question this lame explanation specially in light of the coordinated violation in two separate sectors and within the close proximity of the heated propaganda being waged by the India government.
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Oct 30, 2008    |       18 comments

Two GC College students sent to Jail for protesting

Two Government College Lahore students were sent to jail on Wednesday after an Anti-Terrosism Court Judge Shabbir Husain Chattha sent both Ravians — Usman Lateef and Haroon Mahmood — behind bars on judicial remand for 14 days. The students were arrested them from their homes on Tuesday midnight for protesting the Government College University (GCU) administration’s ‘wrongdoing’.

The College Registrar Sahibzada Faisal Khurshid registered a police report [First Information Report (FIR)] on Tuesday against nine students and some ‘outsiders’ for “unduly gathering outside the GCU premises and creating chaos in the smooth running of the usual educational activities of the university”.

In response, the police booked BS (Honours) students Maher Muhammad Akmal, Shujaat Ali, Muhammad Bilawal Khan, Haroon Mahmood, Muhammad Ali, Usman Lateef, Hasan Sardar, Ali Aslam and Abdul Saboor. Police continues to raid different places across Lahore in search of the remaingn students who are ‘still at large’.
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Oct 29, 2008    |       16 comments

Ali Ahmed Kurd elected as the SCBA President

Ali Ahmed Kurd yesterday won the elections of the Supreme court Bar Association with a landslide victory uprooting Mohammed Zafar. After the landslide victory Kurd and his entire panel will replace the team of Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, and hopefully continue the aggressive campaign for the independence of judiciary.

Ali Ahmed Kurd clinched a thumping majority of Kurd bagged 1,052 votes out of a total of 1,724 votes. His rival Muhammad Zafar, the nominee of the Peoples Lawyers Forum (PLF) and openly backed by Attorney General Sardar Mohammad Latif Khan Khosa, former attorney general Malik Mohammad Qayyum and Ashraf Wahla group, could secure only 220 votes in Lahore

For the people supporting the rule of law and the independence of Judiciary over the last two years this is definitely a moment of hope to witness that many lawyers still support the movement despite all the negativity over the last years and attempts by many smaller faction to create a rift within the SCBA.

Oct 27, 2008    |       9 comments

My internal conflicts

Guest Blog by Amer Nazir

I hurried towards the train station to catch the 7:51. I was dressed well – in my Canali suit and my Hugo Boss overcoat. At the entrance to the station, I saw two people handing out leaflets. The one on the right was Susan Krammer, the local Liberal Democrat MP.

She paused when she saw me… and I saw her struggle for a moment though she did hide it well… ‘And how are you?’ she asked as if she had placed me at once without any effort at all on her part… ‘I am well,’ I replied, with my eye towards the approaching train that I did not want to miss… ‘Mrs Krammer,’ I continued hastily, ‘I will never forget your kindness…!’ ‘That’s what we are here for,’ she replied, ‘you know where to reach us if there is anything we can do for you in future as well…’

I bowed, said my goodbye and ran towards the train – but she called after me…’By the way, you look terrific,’ she said. I turned around and saw that she was beaming – there was pride in her eyes…

Once on the train, I thought of her. I could imagine her being a bit indulgent this morning. An indulgence well deserved. I imagined her telling her assistant right at this moment in a hushed tone that I was an ex-asylum seeker – perhaps just to motivate the young man about the moral significance of their job…

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Oct 24, 2008    |       5 comments

Suicide Note

Guest Post by Asim Khan

Part 1: The Introduction

I am an outsider
A view from inside
I will kill
Myself
And my own
Two angels
All that existed
For me and them
To return
To perfection;
As the sun rises tomorrow!

Part 2: THE GOLDEN BRIDGE

As life walks past,
Upon this golden bridge,
Symbols of our past
In distance, of unity and strength
From promise of slogans
Of “roti, kapra and makan”
To dazzling boards enshrined
Of our failures and mistakes,
Words golden and enticing
Of change and of progression
In hurry and in quarters,
This wave of humanity
In conflict or in peace,
In meanderings of their mind
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Oct 2, 2008    |       58 comments

Tell me Sahar Ali

Guest Post by temporal of Baithak Blog

In the nearly 800,000 sq kms of land that covers all the vistas – from the parched deserts of Balochistan and Sind in the south to the peaks of K2 and Nanga Parbat in the north – from the (negroid) Makrani fishermen of the south to the blue eyed beauties of Kailash and Hunza – from the chattering elites, net journos and the do-gooders of Karachi, Lahore and other urban centers to the rural villages bereft of basic utilities – 97 % of the 160-170 million Pakistanis are united by their religion (Islam) and divided by the many gods they follow.

Did I utter a blasphemy?

Would you blame me for questioning when one group praising the Beneficent (Rehman) kills the other who believe in the Merciful (ar Rahim) ? How can the killer and the killed invoke the same Allah?
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Aug 28, 2008    |       6 comments

Nationwide Dharnas on 28th from 12:00-2:00pm

We apologize for any inconvenience in advance. as the judicial movement has exhausted all avenues for a amicable resolution and with the numerous broken promises by Asif Zardari in regards to Restoration of Judiciary, we feel its important to peacefully send a message and have decided to hold a Dharna for a period of two hours which might result in traffic being disrupted in certain section around the country at the following locations

For now our message is directed towards the ex-President Musharraf and the new incoming Presidential nominee Asif Zardari to undo the actions of 2nd November and restore that Judiciary as it stood then. Our message is strong enough to urge you to join us also if you do not want Zardari as President, you MUST join us today to fight for rule of law. Chaudhry Iftikhar did put a stay order on the illegal NRO which has sadly opened the door for the return of Asif Ali Zardari poised to make a mess out of our country
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Aug 12, 2008    |       5 comments

Lahore: Joint Protest against arrest of Dr. Aafia

Lahore Protest
Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Time: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Location: Outside Governor house, Lahore


RSVP Facebook Event

The Student Action Committee have joined hands with other Lahore based organizations to host a protest at the Governor House in Lahore on 12th August at 6:00pm, if you are in Lahore do join them and be a part of the voice that appeals to the world to release Dr. Aafia from her captors who are actually running a War OF Terror.

Our appeal is simple, Free Aafia and return her to Pakistan safely along with her three missing children

Aug 7, 2008    |      1 comment

LAHORE: Peaceful Protest for Dr. Afia (Saturday @ 6pm)

A peaceful protest is being organized by activists in Lahore namely the FASTRising group against abduction of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui by Pakistani Agencies in shameful manner and her selling to USA with her three children

Protest for Dr. Afia Siddiqui in Lahore

What: Peaceful Protest for Dr. Afia’s release
Where: Lahore Press Club (Shimla Pahari, Davis Road)
When: 6 PM, Saturday August 9, 2008

Spread the word and help Free Afia

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