Lahore blasts

Lahore is home, a place where I went to college, started work, got married and will be returning to soon. Lahore is where friends and family are. Lahore is where my past, present and future are. Lahore is where my dreams, hopes and ambition are.

And today Lahore is in distress. My city, my home, my land is in distress and we the loyal citizens of the city that hosted civilization for centuries are silent by passers. We the proud patrons of art and culture are witnesses to carnage. We the arrogant pious Muslims of the Islamic Republic of the 'not so pure' are in awe of our own doing.

How did we get here? When did all this get so close to home? Why did we sleep through turmoil and now stand numb in shock? What is it that can restore the peace and calm of the streets I once walked alone: without fear, without grief, without death, without tragedy, without noticing, without trying, without knowing that these streets are home and home needs guardians. When did citizens stop being custodians and when did custodians seal the fate of our brick ad mortar and in blood and flesh.

Pakistan lifts the ban on YouTube

Pakistan the lifts ban on YouTube after removal of the blasphemous video clip of an upcoming Dutch film on Islam. Pakistan Telecommunications Authority told Internet Service Providers to unblock YouTube today. In the light of this I take back my conspiracy theory. This is a positive step forward and sends out a clear signal. The quick response from YouTube, Google, is worth appreciating. It is worth mentioning here that YouTube is currently banned in Turkey and Thailand.

Youtube blocked in Pakistan

This is with reference to an earlier post about Pakistani authorities blocking access to youtube. The reasons given are the Danish cartoons and the trailer for an upcoming Dutch film about Islam. To the conspiracy theorist inside me these reasons just do not suffice.

The internet has opened new avenues of expression and protest for disgruntled citizens. Blogging websites and youtube are examples of this upcoming drive towards online citizen participation. In a country like Pakistan, where freedom of speech is a dream tainted far too long and yet never close to being materialized, these platforms offer a means of saying out loud all that you cannot say otherwise and actually being heard by at least some one some where.

Thus, I believe it is quite possible that the ban on youtube could be in the light of growing online citizen protest and not the above stated reasons given by the State. More so, it is worth noting that the ban remains despite the fact that the content deemed offensive by Pakistani authorties has been taken offline.

Suicide Bomber Kills Surgeon General Pakistan

A suicide bomb in Rawalpindi killed General Mushtaq Ahmed Baig, alongside seven others. The suicide bomber rammed in to the General's car near MH (Military Hospital) and Post Office on Mall Road Rawalpindi on Monday. Twenty others were wounded in the attack. The death of a top rank General has been a first and labeled by many as the greatest loss since 9/11. The attack is taken to be another in the series from Al-Qaeda.

Loss of life is equally agonizing regardless of whose life it is. Yet the idealism of this statement is fleeting. The death of a nine month, nine year and ninety year old are not the same. The death of a President and a poor citizen are not the same. The death of a soldier and a General are not the same. The death of a Surgeon General and seven others (whose name no newspaper cared to mention) are not the same. And the death of a suicide bomber and victims of his attack are not the same.

Some year ago I wrote
'Death is always a tragedy.
Birth, always a miracle.
Then why mourn anew every time,
when the story never changes'

I feel Mushtaq Ahmed Baig's death was a huge loss to the country with or without the title General. He was a senior doctor, a specialist, a person with skill and knowledge. How many doctors of comparable expertise and ability do we have in Pakistan? And how many more of them shall we see slaughtered in the name of religion?

Pakistan blocks YouTube

Internet Service Providers in Pakistan have been asked by authorities to block access to YouTube. This is apparently in the light of the return of the danish cartoons. A little over two years ago access to blogspot was denied for the same reason. Whether the ban is permanent or temporary has not been announced.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7261727.stm

Also check
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7262071.stm