Pages

▼

Electricity Power Crisis, Real or Created? Facts and Fiction

Read, Think & understand the game International Powers are playing with us with the help of !   
  
Electricity produced in Pakistan is from three main sources.

1). Hydral 
2). Thermal (Gas/Steam/Furnace Oil)
3). Nuclear


There are four major power producers in country which include Water & Power Development 
Authority (WAPDA) , Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), Independent Power
 Producers (IPPs) and Pakistan Atomic Energy
 Commission (PAEC).


Below is the break-up of the installed capacity of each of these power producers (as of June-2008).

1. WAPDA

a. WAPDA Hy dal 
  Terbela                                                            3478  MW   
  Mangla                                                             1000  MW   
  Ghazi-Brotha                                                     1450  MW     
  Warsak                                   &nb sp;                          243  MW   
  Chashma                                                            184  MW   
  Dargai                                                                  20  MW   
  Rasul                                                                    22  MW   
  Shadi-Waal                                                           18  MW   
  NandiPur                                                               14  MW   
  Kurram Garhi                                                           4  MW   
  Renala                                                                    1  MW   
   ;Chitral                                                                     1  MW   
  Jagran (AK)                                                            30  MW 
  Total Hydal                                        ==>       6461 MW

b. WAPDA Thermal 
  Gas Turbine Power Station, Shadra                             59  MW   
  Steam Power Station, Faisalabad                              132  MW   
  Gas Turbine Power Station, Faisalabad                      244  MW   
  Gas Power Station, Multan                                        195  MW   
  Thermal Power Station, Muzaffargarh                      1350  MW   
  Thermal Power Station, Guddu                                1655  MW   
  Gas Turbine Power Station, Kotri                               174  MW   
  Thermal Power Station, Jamshoro                             850  MW   
  Thermal Power Station, Larkana                                150  MW   
  Thermal Power Station, Quetta                                   35  MW     
  Gas Turbine Power Station, Panjgur                     & nbsp;      39  MW   
  Thermal Power Station, Pasni                                     17  MW   
  Total Thermal                                     ==>        4811  MW

WAPDA's Total Hydal + Thermal capacity is  ==>      11272 MW.&nb sp;

2. Karachi Electric Supply Company 
  Thermal Power Station, Korengi                               316  MW   
  Gas Turbine Power Station, Korengi                            80  MW   
  Gas Turbine Power Station, SITE                              100  MW   
  Thermal Power Station, Bin Qasim                          1260  MW 
  Total (KESC)                                        ==>      1756  MW


3. Independent Power Producers (IPPs) 
Hub Power Project                                                     1292 MW   
AES Lalpir Ltd, Mahmood Kot MuzaffarGarh                    362 MW   
AES Pak Gen, Mahmood Kot MuzaffarGarh                      365 MW   
Altern Energy Ltd, Attock                                                 29 MW   
Fauji KabirWala Power Company, Khanewal                    157 MW   
Gul Ahmad Energy Ltd, Korengi                                      136 MW   
Habibullah Coastal Power Ltd                                         140 MW   
Japan Power Generation, Lahore                                    120 MW   
Koh-e-Noor Energy Ltd, Lahore                   &n bsp;                   131 MW   
Liberty Power Limited, Ghotki                                         232 MW   
Rousch Power, Khaniwal                                                412 MW     
Saba Power Company, Sheikhpura                                 114 MW   
Southern Electric Power Company Ltd, Raiwind                135 MW   
Tapal Energy Limited, Karachi       &n bsp;                                126 MW   
Uch Power Ltd, Dera Murad Jamali, Nasirabad                 586 MW   
Attock Gen Ltd, Morgah Rawalpindi                                 165 MW   
Atlas Power, Sheikhpura                                                225 MW     
Engro Energy Ltd, Karachi                                            ----- MW & nbsp; 
Kot Addu Power Company Limited (Privitized)                1638 MW 
Total  (IPPs)                                              ===>   6365 MW

4. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission 
KANUPP                                                                     137  MW   
CHASNUPP-1                                                              325  MW 
Total (Nuclear)                                          ===>   462  MW 
  
Hydal Electricity generated by WAPDA varies between two extremities i.e. between minimum of
2414 MW and maximum  of 6761 MW depending upon the river flow through the whole year.

Total Power Generation Capacity of Pakistan (including all sources) is 19855 MW and
the electricity demand at peak is 174000 MW and PEPCO is merely generating  10000 MW.

So it is obvious that these 15-20 hrs power shutdowns in most parts of the country are not
because of the lack  of generation capacity but DUE TO MISMANAGEMENT, CORRUPTION
& because of IMF / World Bank policies  imposed on our nation by Govt. The Power Generation companies 
are not buying Furnace Oil from PSO by saying they don’t have money to do that but we are all paying for 
Electricity that is generated from Furnace Oil. This is the reason that top  refineries like PRL are operating
at 40% capacities. IMF / World bank has imposed to reduce budget deficit  by importing  less crude oil. But due
 to this fact all our industries are under severe crisis. None of our
political  party who are in Assembly is ready to speak on it because every one is blessed by
US / IMF / World Ban k. 
Dear Pakistani’s, 

This is a time to show your social activism your power and strength. It is your silence which is
deafening and your couldn’t care less attitude which makes the people in power more powerful
evasive and secure in their Air conditioned offices. 

PLEASE STAND UP AND BE COUNTED:    

Please create awareness,  spread the message ....... 

WE WANT ELECTRICITY IN PAKISTAN.

Electricity now is @11 Rs. per unit, and it will increase after every two months as directed
 by (American) IMF policies. 

Also CHINA offers to Pakistan Electricity for just Rs.200 Monthly Bill and Unlimited
Usage of Electricity but our government is not taking the offer seriously. This is because
there will be neither kick backs nor  any commissions to be pocketed by the strong mafia
of politicians and bureaucrats.  These people are there because of your votes. Let them serve
 you rather than rule you…… 

NOW THIS IS OUR TIME TO SHOW THE GOVERNMENT YOUR STRENGTH. 
PLEASE SPREAD THIS MESSAGE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, BECAUSE OF THIS
 MESSAGE  MANY PEOPLE WOULD COME TO KNOW ABOUT THE TRUTH

 Real Enemies of State & Thar Coal ...
An official source said that interest was recently expressed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in a meeting with the officials of the Thar Coal and Energy Board (TCEB). JICA asked TCEB officials to ...


Tango of the dummies

Sometimes I get tired of all this...commenting and pontificating and usurping newspaper space which I have been doing for the last 32 years, a veritable lifetime. So much could have happened in this period but the greatest thing about it is that virtually nothing has changed. 


The surface appearance of things may have changed. But the underlying reality remains depressingly the same. The same language of politics, the same issues, or almost the same, in most cases even the same mug shots of the principal characters involved, the dramatis personae. 

Sure, there were no cell phones then and no private television channels. And banks hadn’t got into the business of providing easy money for auto-lending. But as far as ideas and problems are concerned we could still be stuck in the 1980s, the only difference being that many of the problems, like terrorism and jihad, which raised their heads for the first time then have assumed a more terrible shape since. Which in its own perverted way can be counted as a form of progress. 

Problems recycled and, what’s perhaps far more worse, the same cast of characters recycled. They just don’t seem to go away. Reminds me of the Hugo quote from Les Miserables: “Is it then true? The soul may recover but not fate. Frightful thing! An incurable destiny.” 

Our incurable destiny seems to be to suffer the same parade of fools and clowns and dummies. And where elders depart, their offspring step effortlessly into their shoes. In our more hopeful moments some of us talk of alternatives and third options only to be left wondering what this means. 

Under Musharraf the third option we got was in the form of the holy fathers of the MMA, more skilful political gymnasts than their lay brothers and sisters. Dummies in secular clothing, dummies in religious garb. Saviours in uniform. Agency boys talking about the national interest as if they own it, or alone understand it. The sameness of this routine is enough to drive one mad. 

What is it with Pakistani politics? Surely we could do with a better and greater infusion of talent? It’s not as if there is no talent in this land. There is no shortage of smart Pakistanis: educated, clever, articulate, the right ideas in their minds, their hearts in the right places. But why don’t we get to see this in the political arena? 

Next to the entrance leading to the floor of the National Assembly are extracts from Jinnah’s August 11, 1947 speech, in which he made a plea for a secular state. No one pays the slightest attention to this exhortation, so what’s the point of having it there? Far more relevant would just be this declaration: brevity is not the soul of wit. 

And why do I say this? Because some of the speeches are a nightmare: tedious, long and repetitious...long on anger, short on reasoned argument. But then why should we be surprised? The pithy comment, the gift for under-statement – the ability to make your point without protesting too much and without always sounding angry with the world – appear to be notions beyond our reach or grasp. 

This is a change for the worse. I remember Ayub Khan’s National Assembly and the 1970 assembly. The quality of debate was far higher, with a greater display of wit and irony. This National Assembly, made soporific by Prime Minister Gilani’s distribution of lollipops to everyone across the house, appears to be singularly humourless. Anyway, to each his own. If this is what we have, this is what must be endured. Although, I can tell you, the endurance is not easy. 

And, as an aside, why must the prime minister be always on his feet, always speaking? It is not good to answer everything. It is not good to speak every day. If you do, your words are robbed of any impact that they may have. But, as I said, the motto of this assembly, especially as far as the front benches are concerned, is brevity is not the soul of wit. So perhaps Gilani is powerless before the force of this dictum. 

But enough of this. Only recently did I come across the Coke Studio production of “Alif Allah” sung by Arif Lohar and the very fetching Meesha Shafi. It’s a work of pure joy and really sweeps you off your feet. I mention this because if we have young people producing such things in music and the arts, if we have young Hadiqa Kayani singing “Booyey barian” (this was some years ago) and Shazia Manzoor (where art thou?) with her “Chan makhna” and “Diya bale saree raat”, to mention only these, because I could go on and on and the list would be long, why can’t the same quality of talent come into the realms of administration and politics? 

I don’t find an easy answer to this question. Where are all the bright boys and girls going, all the products of LUMS, etc? When I go for meetings to Lahore – mercifully fewer with the passage of time – I feel like holding my head in my hands because of the kind of people one has to meet: self-important asses, which seems to be a fair enough description. About the political class the less said the better, although in the preceding paragraphs I may have said enough. So to repeat my question, where is all the talent going? Why are the realms of administration and politics turning into saline deserts? 

These are not idle questions, because if we can’t fix our politics, if the quality of decision-making doesn’t improve, we are done for. The priorities we set, the goals we define, the allocation of resources, are all political choices. Public transport, government hospitals, government schools – what kind of money do we want to spend on these sectors? These are political decisions. So if we want to get things right, the quality of our politics, the quality of our national discourse, have to improve or the next 32 years will be a repetition of the previous 32. And when our time is up and others come to take our place they will be beating their breasts in the same manner and giving vent to the same lamentations. 

The next two years are going to be crucial. There is a yawning vacuum in our politics. The last three years since the 2008 elections have been killer years, completely wiping out the enthusiasm which arose when the lawyers’ movement was at its height and the Musharraf era was on its last legs and we thought that the shining kingdom was there before us, just around the next corner, just across the next valley. 

All that heady feeling has gone and the political class, from one end of the spectrum to the other, stands exposed and discredited...not for the first time, this discrediting not being a new phenomenon, but with the added twist that the politically-interested have begun openly talking of alternatives. 

In times past there used to be a yearning for military saviours, galloping horsemen issuing forth from the hallowed gates of General Headquarters and setting right the nation’s ills. Thank God that delusion is over, hopefully forever. This was Musharraf’s one great service to the nation: ridding us of the saviour complex. Now there is a yearning for some kind of a political saviour, someone like Bhutto, but not quite like him, emerging from the wings, sweeping all before him and laying the foundations of a dispensation dedicated to fighting corruption and redeeming national honour. 

This is the fond hope. Imran Khan had only to call for a dharna (sit-in) against drone strikes and regardless of how large or small the gathering in Peshawar was, the chattering classes have begun excitedly to talk of a new knight on the horizon. 

We should not under-estimate the Great Khan’s ability to lose himself in the wilderness, or shoot himself in the foot. He has done it before. But one thing has to be said for him. A lesser man would have lost heart long ago...so many disappointments and so little to show for them. He has to be given credit for persevering. 

Anyhow, there is a vacuum out there waiting to be filled. Either a brave adventurer seizes this opportunity or we can dine on cynicism for another generation. 

Ayaz Amir, Email: winlust@yahoo.com

Censoring Jinnah- Secular Pakistan?

WebpageTranslator

      Premise:
      The Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah during his first address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11th August, 1947 said: “We are all citizens and equal citizens of one state….Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal, and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.” 
      This speech is misunderstood and quoted out of context, disregarding Islamic concept of state and fair treatment and rights of minorities, Charter of Medina, Pakistan movement struggle, other other speeches and Two Nation Theory.
      The Charter of Medina, in fact was the first ever written constitution in the history of mankind. This was based on the contract agreed upon by Muslims, Jews and others, stipulating that they all would be treated as equal citizens of Medina, giving the non-Muslims right of choosing a legal system they wished their affairs be governed by, be it Islamic or Jewish law or pre-Islamic Arab tribal traditions. This confirms the principle “no compulsion in religion”, freedom of expression and religious practice was open to everyone. It gave the right of protection, security, peace and justice; not only to Muslims, but also to the Jews who lived in the City of Medina, as well as the allies of Jews who were non-Muslims. The Jews were recognized as a separate political and ethnic minority, and allowed to practice their religion quite freely. In fact, Jews were considered on an equal bases as Muslims under the Islamic State.
      Safety, Security and Protection of Non Muslims: Narrated Abdullah bin Amr : The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
      “Whoever killed a Mu’ahid (a person who is granted the pledge of protection by the Muslims) shall not smell the fragrance of Paradise though its fragrance can be smelt at a distance of forty years (of traveling).”(Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith:9.49).
      Narrated Amr bin Maimun: The second Caliph Umar (after he was stabbed by a man from minority), instructed (his would-be-successor) saying:
      “I urge him (i.e. the new Caliph) to take care of those non-Muslims who are under the protection of Allah and His Apostle (peace be upon him) in that he should observe the convention agreed upon with them, and fight on their behalf (to secure their safety) and he should not over-tax them beyond their capability.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith: 4.287).
      Freedom of Faith: There are no forced conversions in Islam, the non Muslim subjects have the right to freely choose to convert to Islam or keep practicing their faith. But once a person converts to Islam, it is obligatory to practice his faith to be a good Muslim. Apostasy has always been considered as a capital offence in all the religions and political systems of the world, because it is considered as a high treason against the established norms of society. 
      Also read.......
      Constitutional Theory of the Islamic State
      Madinah shall remain sacred and inviolable for all that join this treaty. Should any disagreement arise between the signatories to this treaty, then Muhammad shall settle the dispute. The signatories to this treaty shall boycott Quraish ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Censoring Jinnah
By Nadeem F Piracha

    How the Pakistani state used Orwellian tactics to twist and turn historical events to construct a mythical socio-political narrative is now in the open. Using the media and school textbooks, the state went on a rampage, especially after the loss of the former East Pakistan in 1971. Highly paranoid, xenophobic and aggressive narratives about Pakistan’s ideology, history and society were streamlined that eventually mutated into a warped world view.

    Because of this myopic worldview many Pakistanis see themselves at the centre of the known universe, surrounded by enemies and vicious conspiracies. It suggests that these enemies can only be vanquished through wars or blocked out through self-imposed isolation. To justify such war-mongering and isolationism, various mythical and largely distorted theological concepts have been used, as if it is Islam that insists that Pakistanis continue to live in their permanent state of denial and delusion.

    One can rightly blame men like Z. A. Bhutto and more specifically, General Zia, for such a state of affairs. Both of these ironically opposite personalities proudly oversaw the methodical construction of a worldview that was more suited to the whims of fringy cranks, but was made a mainstream narrative. It is true that Bhutto and Zia nourished the growth of militaristic and xenophobic fantasies of mythical glories (of both past and present) in our collective psyches, but those who came before these two weren’t all that truthful either.

    Religion has always been a handy tool for the ruling elite to continue justifying its undemocratic and exploitative presence. That’s why the said narrative uses gaudy Islamic symbolism and rhetoric to validate what is actually a glorification of institutions associated with the military, the clergy, the bureaucracy and big businesses. This tool was first used to exercise political control, especially over ‘treacherous’ and ‘unpatriotic’ nationalist forces first in Bengal, and later in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    Gradually, by the time Zia took over, this became a tool of social control as well. If the ‘One Unit’ and the 1956 Constitution which, without any concrete definition, declared Pakistan an ‘Islamic Republic,’ were political moves to ward off calls for provincial autonomy and democracy, then Zia’s hotchpotch of Islamic laws and the filling of secular social spaces by garish symbols, lingo and related paraphernalia was a social move to remind society of its manufactured theological roots. Zia was only enhancing (with much gusto) an old Pakistani tradition, one of social and political control by using religion.

    This tradition’s earliest roots lie in one of the first insistences of Orwellian manipulation of faith and nationalism way back in 1948. The late journalist, Zameer Niazi (in his book Press in Chains), noted that historian Dr Mubarak Ali (in In Search of Pakistan Identity) and Ahmed Ali (in Culture of Pakistan) have discussed this event in detail. Soon after the creation of Pakistan, Jinnah gave his famous speech to the Constituent Assembly in which he insisted that in Pakistan minorities were free to follow their religions whichever way they wanted and that the Pakistani state had nothing to do with religion. This speech did not go down very well with that section of the Muslim League elite which had tasted the power of using religion as a political tool during the Pakistan Movement.

    Some of these men would go on to fan the anti-Ahmadiyya riots in Lahore (1953) by using parties like the Jamat-i-Islami and Majlis-i-Ahrar, the two Islamist outfits that had actually opposed the creation of Pakistan. Soon after Jinnah’s speech, an attempt was made by a number of Muslim League leaders (some believe, these also included Liaquat Ali Khan), to censor the draft of the speech that was to be published in the newspapers. It was only when the then editor, Dawn, Altaf Hussain, threatened to take the issue directly to Jinnah that the League leaders relented, and the media was allowed to print the uncensored, now historic speech.

    No wonder then, soon after Jinnah’s death in 1948, the League’s top leadership at once departed from the secular contents of Jinnah’s speech and, in fact, flipped it on its head by drafting the 1949 Objectives Resolution that in the future became the basis of Bhutto’s populist Islamic experiments and Zia’s Machiavellian Islamist demagoguery. After that resolution was passed in 1949, some journalists questioned just how the secular contents of Jinnah’s speech could fit in the resolution’s theological proclamations.

    Various senior League members responded by suggesting that the speech was an anomaly, delivered at a time when Jinnah was very sick. Were they implying that towards the end Jinnah was losing his mind? The famous Justice Muneer is on record as saying that he overheard some League leaders say that the speech was ‘inspired by the devil.’

    In 1970s Z.A. Bhutto claimed that attempts were even made to burn that speech, while in the 1980s Zia used the director of the Quaid-i-Azam Academy to refute the contents of the speech by apologetically suggesting that Jinnah had no idea what an Islamic state meant, and/or if he had known he would not have made those comments.

    Smokers’ Corner: Censoring JinnahNadeem F. Paracha 


    Responses to " Smokers’ Corner: Censoring Jinnah "
    NAnda says:
    Today at 1:57 pm 
    Superb peice. I follow you on twitter too. Very good sense of humor.
    Reply
    sharma says:
    Today at 12:34 pm
    The role of Britishers in what is wrong with the subcontinent now is very much under quoted. The partition of Bengal in 1905 along religious lines on pretext of better administration was the prelude to the 1947 Partition.the problem is that Pakistan still refuses to see through the game of the British-USA Colonialists. The Muslims that have been butchered by the Anglosaxons will far outnumber those that have died in the communal riots across the subcontinent. Also the way Pakistani Muslims are suffering is due to that legacy. Instead of looking at India with jaundiced eyes Pakistan should solve all issues peacefully and grow along with India rather than making itself a fool in the modern form of Imperialism by the West.Hindus and Muslims have lived together for centuries and evolved so much together that it is not worth throwing away all that cultural growth. The looser in this equation is both India and Pakistan but Pakistan is a bigger looser as it cannot afford the cost.
    Reply
    ArifQ says:
    Today at 12:19 pm (4 hours ago)
    NFP, I agree with your concerns but unfortunately have to differ with the conclusion. Jinnah wanted a democracy, now if the majority wishes to be a xenophobic fascist state then that is what they should get. Now, if people like yourself and many many more can change this view, well Ahlan wa Sahlan, if not then you have two options: (1) Sit back and respect the majority or (2) Be ready to push the eject button i.e. immigrate. Please do keep writing, if anything it keeps the self righteous on their tenter hooks.
    Reply
    SKI says:
    Today at 12:17 pm (4 hours ago)
    Mr. Jinnah himself had stressed the separate identity of the ‘Muslim community’ and had demanded the creation of Pakistan for the ‘community’. After that, just by making a couple of speeches with lofty ideals cannot change the Raison d’être for Pakistan.
    What the Muslim Leage leaders thought, spoke and did was logical – and probably more honest and keeping with their beliefs. They were the ones who rallied people to the cause of Pakistan across the sub-continent during the Pakistan Movement.
    Again, after losing East Bengal, it is but natural for leaders of Pakistan to try to define the identity of Pakistan that holds the country together. So, looking west (Arab/Persian roots) is a natural option. One cannot fault them for that.
    So, what is happening is a natural growth of the seeds sown at the time of the Pakistan Movement. Analysing them in small chunks is unlikely to lead to any solutions.
    The only solution is to have a federal structure for the whole sub-continent with all states (or regions within them) having complete autonomy for all local affairs – with strong governance at the city/village level. All other solutions (and definition of identities) will be apologies to the reality and will never be able to lead to a lasting peace in the region. With the information age upon us, there is possibility that in a couple of generations, the youth, armed with information and the wisdom of experiences of the earlier generations, will be able to dream and take bold decisions for the collective good.
    Reply
    Asad says:
    Today at 12:13 pm (4 hours ago)
    Hats off to Sir Nadeem for presenting the painful historical truth. Our whole syllabus of primary and secondary schools should be changed in order to bring the nation out of that delusional state.
    Reply
    A/A says:
    Today at 12:12 pm (4 hours ago)
    History is repeating….Jinnah in new form of Imran Khan and Iqbal in form of Zaid Hamid….Dont Worry at all….Combination will sail through the crisis…
    Reply
    rikky says:
    Today at 2:47 pm (2 hours ago)
    are you serious
    Reply
    vijay says:
    Today at 12:11 pm (4 hours ago)
    In any case Jinnah’s speech was not exactly an exemplar of liberalism or secularism. It merely expressed an indifference or at best a toleration of minorities holding a different religious belief from the mainstream.
    There is a fundamental contradiction in forcing a sesession on the basis that muslims formed a nation and could not live under a hindu hegemony and then pretending minorities are welcome (or to be exact, not hounded) under the new muslim regime. What is good for the goose apparently is not good for the gander.
    The subsequent development of religious intolerance is truly in keeping with the attitude of exceptionalism that drove the Pakistan Movement.
    Reply
    free thinker says:
    Today at 12:05 pm (5 hours ago)
    Its awesomely amazing to see free advice (muft musharay) being given by Indians as if they are they are the bastions of self-awareness. How Girish preaches us to “come out of eternal state of denial” highlights the magnificently towering arrogance that reeks in every iota of his pathetic existence.
    Reply
    Jai says:
    Today at 11:36 am (5 hours ago)
    When religion got out of the confines of the home into politics, the subcontinent became a violent place. The issues are the same in india albeit of a less virulent kind. The only difference is that the gun culture in Pakistan exacerbates it. I often wonder if unresolved issues like Kashmir are a mere excuse to foster violence. I don’t think the resolution of these issues will yet lead to peace in the region. As a people, we are backward, naive and easily misled. The moral fibre is conspicuously missing.
    Reply
    GKrishnan says:
    Today at 11:31 am (5 hours ago)
    This write-up does not do justice to the memory of ZA Bhutto, and Mr. NFP as a former PPP adherent, should know better. ZAB did at least try to bring in socialist laissez-faire economics in the 70s, an attempt to see that development should be broad-based and reach the masses. That he did not succeed,whatever the reasons may be, is another matter.
    Reply
    Conspiracy Tehreek says:
    Today at 11:20 am (5 hours ago)
    Our identity crisis continues. Denial, unfortunately is our way of life now.
    Reply
    EJAZ says:
    Today at 10:50 am (6 hours ago)
    The movement was only to declare Ahmadys a minority and nothing else. Since they were declaring themselves muslims but were not accepting the end of prophethood on Muhammad (PBUH)it was creating a basic misconception over Islam.
    Reply
    S. Sharma says:
    Today at 10:49 am (6 hours ago)
    Oft quoted speech by Jinnah has negligible value now — and even had little value then.
    Pakistan was created by insistence of Jinnah for “muslm majority” – there never was any doubt in the mind of millions who picked up their bags and moved on .. they know what was coming.
    So one can lament and deride muslim league .. but the deed was done and there was no coming back.
    The rationale for division was shallow and vane – it has grown from that original thought to it’s logical conclusion — fanaticism!
    Reply
    R.N.Swamy says:
    Today at 10:48 am (6 hours ago)
    Pakistan’s salvation will come when the excessive obsession with religion disappears and people start worrying more about, education, health and progress. Islam will take care of itself and does not need suicide bombers and street rowdies to survive.
    Reply
    Ahmed says:
    Today at 10:39 am (6 hours ago)
    You are right! It was an historic trend of spiralling downwards. After the British left, we came to inherit the piece of land. However, our mindset is still tribal, and it will take a few centuries to grow some extra layers in our brains to reach the National level. Things were bound to get worse then. Maybe we can speed up our intellectual growth but only time will tell. Many other nations by that time may have grown into Internationalists. We need to push ourselves to achieve.
    Reply
    Anurag says:
    Today at 10:35 am (6 hours ago)
    Why hankering of past? Do you really believe that present is immutable and Pakistan has to live the consequences of decisions made in its early year for eternity!
    Any nation-state is just an abstract concept that is brought to live by its people and surely if enough of people believe they need to change then they can ofcourse it has to be done painstakenly over decades and not in a instant.
    It is time for elite/thinking class to move away from past and start imagining the future that they wish to have and build a momentum.
    As a non-pakistani it is really trying to read this ‘marsia’ styled column where blame is place on figures of past with no responsibility assumed for changing the future (if not present).
    Reply
    Azeema says:
    Today at 10:10 am (6 hours ago)
    So what do you suggest to fix these existential anxieties of Pakistanis? How can we do a reverse brain-wash of the people or should the country cease to exist?
    Reply
    Girish says:
    Today at 11:18 am (5 hours ago)
    Coming out of eternal state of denial and appreciation of actual facts of the history might help..
    Reply
    Jai says:
    Today at 11:39 am (5 hours ago)
    Is there really an existential crisis emanating from across the border? An honest appraisal of this belief might be of great help.