Faiz Ahmad Faiz (1911 - 1984)

Faiz Ahmad Faiz is an inspiration to millions who admire him for his revolutionary poetry and literature. Considering the depth, vision and universal relevance of his writings, Faiz is undoubtedly considered the greatest Urdu poet after Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

Lahore Metblogs misses Faiz and remembers him by quoting some of his famous verses:

Koi Nahi Hai...

More on Faiz Ahmad Faiz:

- Pakistaniat
- Wikipedia

MQM Rally photoshopped

Thanks to this keen-eyed blogger, we have now a ‘large presence of MQM in Baltistan, Skardu’. The image is photoshopped to show a larger crowd. More details here

Jamia Naeemia after the blast targeting Dr. Sarfraz Naeemi

Image source & more pictures at: BBC News

Through this incident, the militants have given this war a major turn towards the moderates. Dr. Sarfraz was a progressive cleric who had issued fatwas against suicide bombings and killing of innocent men, women and children by the terrorist activities of the Taliban.

Dr. Naeemi’s loss has now enraged a significant section of society, the moderate religious lot, who are now going to follow the respected cleric’s footsteps by denouncing terrorism and extremism in all its forms. This would add more weight to the support gained by the government’s army offensive against miscreants in the troubled tribal areas plus Swat. The result might be hugely encouraging if the army is really succeeding in operation ‘Rah-e-Raast’. If it is not the case, we might see millions more becoming homeless, displaced and turning into possible recruits for furthering the terrorists’ agenda.

And we also need to stay vigilant against forces who may take this as an opportunity of igniting sectarian violence and hatred among our own people; a possibility that was seen for real at its ugliest in the Iraq war.

Six of the men guarding Sri Lankan Team’s convoy lost their lives while battling about twelve very heavily armed militants right in the heart of Lahore in broad daylight.

People paying their respects at the Memorial

Lahorites are proudly commemorating the bravery of these men who sacrificed their lives to save what is left of this country’s international image. It was due to the cover provided by deterrence of these men lasting 25 minutes against the terrorists that the bus carrying the Sri Lankans was able to escape to safety of the Qadaffi Stadium. Would they have not fought bravely enough, the whole Sri Lankan team might have been taken hostage or in a worse scenario; killed!

A tribute!

As you do a roundabout at Liberty, you can see stacks of flowers and bouquets coupled with hand written charts, banners, posters and candles adorning the small memorial erected in the grounds. The most prominent feature of the memorial is the official banners with pictures of the martyrs on them.

Martyred Policemen of the Punjab Elite Force

Liberty Memorial for Heroes of 3/3

We owe a lot to the ‘Shuhada of 3/3′ namely:

- Zafar Iqbal, Constable Elite Force
- Faisal Rasheed Butt, Head Constable Elite Force
- Mudassar Nadeem, Constable Elite Force
- Muhammad Sultan, Constable/Driver Elite Force
- Tipu Farid, Constable Mujahid Squad
- Tanveer Iqbal, Traffic Warden

We pray that may God grant peace to their loved ones and bless their souls by honoring them with the highest ranks in heaven. Amen!

More Pictures: Liberty Memorial at Flickr

Lahore is brimming to its maddening political edge as political parties battle it out in the streets. Loyalists branding party emblems are gathering everywhere. The Mall is a political boulevard where all parties deem it necessary to make their presence felt.

Such a “battle” brought me to an eventful PML-N rally on The Mall on 26 February. Armed with my camera and its bag; I walked hesitantly into the rally, a potential terrorist strike target. I freelance as a photojournalist, an interesting but risky job.

Here, the workers of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had blocked The Mall for over five hours in their protest against the Supreme Court (SC) verdict that disqualified the Sharif brothers from contesting the general elections.

Unrest prevailed as the protest intensified when aggressive party workers marched towards the Punjab Assembly building to break the locks after PML-N parliamentarians had to sit on the staircase to conduct the session.

Anti-Zardari slogans were chanted, tyres were burnt tyres and banners containing pictures of PPP leaders were brandished. The protesters held placards and banners that condemned the SC and the PPP-led government.

During the protest, a worker climbed a streetlight to hoist a PML-N flag.

Addressing the workers, PML-N leader Hamza Shahbaz said the SC had disqualified PML-N leadership on the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari and alleged that “The decision was a raid on democracy”.

The other side:

Amid the noise at such ralies, a series of fortunate and misfortunate events also take place. A rally is a world in itself, in addition to the main political activity, there is a lot that goes on.

Pickpockets have a field day, robbing unsuspecting spectators of their cell phones, wallets and whatever they can get their hands on. I lost my cellphone as a man smuggled his way into my pocket and disappeared into thin air. 

Hawkers scramble about the gathering, selling water, food and the bare necessities. You’ll find people munching on goodies, browsing lottery tickets and offering free political analysis to everyone around them.

Pushy people:

Amid the commotion, one also gets assaulted by “pushy” people who force their way towards the stage. I was elbowed and my sunglasses fell to the road. Before I could pick them up, a “footful” of people stomped their way through and reduced it into a mere wire mesh! Why was I wearing sunglasses? Well the smoke from the burning tyres can be quite tearful at times!

“Zardari chuha”/Zardari Kuta

Animal rights everyone? Protesters hanged a live mouse from a board that read out “Zardaru chuha” (Translated: Zardari is a mouse). I couldn’t help but capture this one. Is this freedom of expression of abuse of expression? The little mouse was trembling and paying with its life for someone else’s crimes.

Zardari Chuha

Men wearing horror masks and holding placards inscribed with Zardari Kuta (Translated: Zardari is a dog) are rampant throughout these anti-PPP rallies. These men get a lot of press attention, though such images may not be published, but they remain an irresistible catch for any photographer.

Seems familiar?

The political circus brings with it many characters. Activists try to steal the show by using their theatrical abilities to catch everyone’s attention. Here men beat their chests, “mourning” the SC verdict.

PML N-autanki

 It seems that as things become increasingly complicated in this political turmoil, it is advisable to witness the events from the safety of your house. The Mall shall remain choked and tense until things settle down. Lets hope the anarchy simmers down and Lahore is restored to its glory.

Ahsan Raza @ Cricinfo.com

Ahsan Raza was seriously injured after bullet shots and is still in critical condition at a hospital in Lahore while Chris Broad miraculously survived 25 minutes of targeted shooting unscathed.

In a press conference after reaching home safely, Broad has strongly criticized the security forces which left their van alone right in the middle of the roundabout with terrorists spread all around.

Broad’s concerns and statements in this regard are very valid and justify his anger, however, we have to see what really happened as the attack continued.

When the bus carrying Sri Lankans moved on, other police vehicles might have followed hurriedly to provide cover for ‘the target’ against any further attacks on the stadium route. That might have left the remaining party vulnerable. On the other hand, it still is not clear how many escorts were initially with the convoy.

The Government seriously need to find some critical answers to these questions as soon as possible. Western media, on the other hand, is hailing the return of Broad as a ‘hero’s return’ while forgetting glorious sacrifices made by the policemen who laid their lives to cover the guests including him and his fellows. They surely owe their life to these ‘true’ heroes.

Meanwhile, we request everyone to please pray for Ahsan Raza’s life and quick recovery of all others including policemen injured in this carnage.

The Government has paid homage to heroes of the day as President Zardai announced compensation of Rs.0.5 million for each of the victims’ families.

You have made us proud by showing courage and self-sacrifice. May your soul rest in eternal peace – Amen!

We Lahoris are a Lahore-obsessed tribe. There is a whole course in LUMS called “Imagining Lahore” taught by the Dr. Furrukh Khan, one of the experts on the subject and the head of our Literature department. In another course “Food and culture”, the discussion is never far away from the type of food that we Lahoris eat, and what we perceive food as. I should know.

But anyway, we are never happier than when something big is happening in our own city, and forget the firecrackers for some time. LUMS has had the recent honor of being selected by prominent Pakistani writers for launching their latest books. Recent, did I say? Well, it has been around for some time; it is a famous story that someone here brought a pirated copy of a Bapsi Sidhwa work to be signed by the author—and the author flipped out! Lol…well…but no, let’s leave my thoughts on piracy fro another time.

After ‘A Case of Exploding Mangoes’ was launched last year, now, in less than a week, Kamila Shamsie is launching her new novel “Burnt Shadows” here as well!

Am I happily excited? I don’t know. Her books are beautiful, but….she is amazingly talented but…always a but and I fear I cannot express it as anything but but…

Maybe this one will finally explore the hurts of the common man more than the hurts of the elite, but I’m still excited. Here are the two mails that have been sent to us so far. First, there is her profile, and then the announcement.

Writer Kamila Shamsie, 33, is one of Pakistan’s most promising literary talents. First published at the age of 25, she now has four highly acclaimed books to her credit. She also received the Prime Minister’s Award for Literature in Pakistan in 1999.

Kamila’s four published novels – ‘In the City by the Sea’ (1998), ‘Salt and Saffron’ (2000), ‘Kartography’ (2002), and ‘Broken Verses’ (2005) – were written back to back, and each novel has spilled over into the other. She was still in grad school when she was revising the first, writing the second, and had already written the short story that grew into ‘Kartography’. As she worked on one novel, she would think that an idea could be worked on more. That would turn into the next novel. ‘Broken Verses’ coincided with 9/11, and US publishers didn’t want to buy it.

She had fallen into habits of writing – for example, “this generational thing”. In each of her novels, a younger generation figures out the secrets of the older one, but this was really a solution to a technical problem – a novel requires conflict, a secret is a good way to do it.

http://www.boloji.com/wfs5/wfs859.htm

Dear All,

The sensational contemporary  English writer Kamila Shamise is coming to LUMS for the launch of her latest book , “Burnt Shadows”. Sweeping in its scope and mesmerizing in its evocation of time and place, Burnt Shadows is an epic narrative of disasters evaded and confronted, loyalties offered and repaid, and loves rewarded and betrayed.

Date: Monday, 9th January 2009
Time: 5pm

Venue : TBA

The launch is open to all (you can invite your non-LUMINITE friends and family )

Best,

LUMS Literary Society

“In a split second, the world turns white. In the next, it explodes with the sound of fire and the horror of realization. In the numbing aftermath of a bomb that obliterates everything she has known, all that remains are the bird-shaped burns on her back, an indelible reminder of the world she has lost. In search of new beginnings, she travels to Delhi ….” ~ an excerpt from the book

A man selling pollution masks on The Mall

Once found only in operation theatres of well-sanitized hospitals and medical facilities, masked men can now easily be seen roaming the main roads of Lahore selling an easy but effective solution to the city’s alarming pollution problems.

Our guardians against pollution and related diseases; saving many lives indirectly, they are our heroes too! :)