Ten years after the “Islamic Attack” on 9/11, some of the saner Americans have overcome the trauma to reflect on the reality that is Islam’s historic legacy. I had the privilege of viewing many pieces of art from various muslim countries made of the period of centuries at the Metropolitan museum in New York. The pain taken in exquisitely presenting these incredible pieces is worth every praise.  The curators took the time and effort to dig into the history of each and every piece and present it to the visitor in both written and aural form. The respect shown to the work of muslim artists is in sharp contrast to the negative narrative still in mainstream media. But healthy signs are now manifesting them in different forms where some of the americans are having the guts to standing up to the mainstream media.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I took the opportunity to take some photos of the exhibits that I have shared in the album below. To enjoy it fully go to maximizing the screen after clicking on the image below.

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One of OPEN’s goals has all along been to support businesses in Pakistan in a manner consistent with our core principles of staying “Hungry and Foolish” with respect to entrepreneurism. OPEN chapters have historically gone out of their way to assist Pakistani businesses efforts to gain traction in the US and global markets.  We started off by assisting those Pakistani businessmen visiting the US, as we were busy establishing ourselves. We, then with the assistance of MIT Enterprise Forum, started the MITEFP-OPEN Business Acceleration Plan competition in Karachi Pakistan. This allowed us to gain traction with the young and budding entrepreneurs their. There were some hesitancy within OPEN about opening a chapter in Pakistan as some other similar organizations did not do as well due to lack of right kind of leadership needed. The winners of BAP competition showed us that there is a new breed of Pakistani businessmen who have the credentials and zest who could be worked with.

The writeup below was written by one of the member of the OPEN Karachi Chapter that was recently inaugurated.

Rabia Garib

It was the Worst of Times, ’twas the Best of Times

Such are often the words often used by businesses operating in Pakistan. Amidst the geopolitical crisis that has plagued Pakistan since forever, the past 3 years or so have seen a constant rise of buzzwords such as “entrepreneurship”, “Start-ups”, “Business Plans” and “Angel Investment”. Despite the turbulent times, companies that have been driven by IT have continued to thrive.

On the other side of the world, Pakistanis working through OPEN’s 7 chapters across the US, have been working through associations and individuals through one connection or another, trying to figure out what the temperament and potential on the ground really is. An increase in the amount of information being sent out of Pakistan through websites and blogs has helped to raise the profiles of many companies, but there really was a growing need to have a more “intimate” presence.

That’s why the turnout to the launch event of OPEN Karachi, OPEN’s first presence outside North America, was attended with such fervor. Getting some of Pakistan’s major IT players to sync their calendars isn’t an easy task, but here’s the thing: if the cause matters, Pakistan’s best make it happen.

The decision to set up OPEN’s first international chapter in Karachi couldn’t have been an easy one, but considering Karachi contributes almost 70% of the total GDP, is the financial capital of country and houses the bulk of the gateways to the region and rest of the world, it makes sense. There are more corporate gatherings in Karachi as compared to the rest of the country and the number of IT-run businesses are probably larger in number here, than elsewhere.

Having a chapter in Karachi helps the associations across North America to fill in another puzzle on a map of opportunity. That’s why one of the mandates OPEN Karachi has is to raise the awareness of local organizations and opportunities to the other Chapters. Raise the profile of the Pakistani companies who have achieved their peak, so to speak, in the local ‘ecosystem’ and allow them to collectively benefit being part of OPEN.

Packaging more intelligent messages about actual work being done in Pakistan, mentoring students and businesses and establishing collaborative projects between organizations and institutions in Pakistan and those in North America. There is a lot that has to be done, and a combination of experienced professionals with young and vibrant members of OPEN Karachi will hopefully get the ball rolling quickly.

But starting up an Chapter with the track record and profile of OPEN is also not an easy task. There is a great deal of work to be done and a lot many activities and opportunities for interaction to add onto what is usually a really heavy national event calendar. Only once the groundwork has been done from our side, will we be able to allow local companies to really benefit what OPEN Global has to offer.

Please watch this space for more updates from the OPEN Karachi team.

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In the history of nations, there comes a time, when the chasm between what its people deserve and what they are getting is so huge, that revolutionary changes are needed to restore the balance. I believe that time is now for the people of Pakistan. It does not take much to look around at statistics and news from nearly any perspective to see that the State and the existing mind set amongst the Pakistanis has moved astray from the vision of the founding fathers. I have received countless e-mails, calls and tweets from concerned Pakistanis who all want to see a fundamental change in the dangerous trajectory that Pakistan is on.The time for idle drawing room wistful talk is long gone. Nor do we have the luxury of time available to us. As individuals we have a choice to make.
Do we let the forces that are at play act themselves out to the detriment and possible destruction of the country? Or do we in our own small, individual little way do something… anything positive to stem the slide and define a path towards a New Pakistan.
We have reached this state not because of a single cataclysmic event, but because of a long series of wrong policies, wrong decisions, wrong attitudes, lack of action when it was sorely needed and wrong values. Pakistan is bleeding from a million cuts ranging from suicide bombers, drones firing missiles into people’s homes, schools being blown up, corruption amongst the leaders and power holders, Arabization of our value system to name a few.

The journey out of this deep hole is going to be equally arduous and long. But it is a journey that MUST be undertaken. This journey is not to go back to some point in our history, but to chart out a new and shared vision for a New Pakistan, in the spirit that was first formulated by the founding fathers. It is a vision in which ALL PAKISTANIs irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or social status have

Security and Access to Timely Justice.

Access to Quality Basic Education.

Access to Basic Health Care.

Access to Gainful Employment.

I’m starting an ART (AMAN,ROZI & TALEEM) social awareness campaign across Pakistan. Everyone from across the spectrum can agree on the slogan of Aman (Peace and regional harmony), Rozi (economic security) and Taleem (Education). This is a non political, non partisan and non violent movement which Pakistani women and men of all ages and inclinations can agree upon.
The first phase will require social media (twitter, facebook and skype ,TV & radio) to reach out with a new message of hope and change. Once people from all sides of the spectrum can agree on these three basic needs (Aman, Rozi and Taleem), we can initiate the second phase.

In the Second phase we will conduct town hall type events with Pakistani intellectuals, entrepreneurs, artists and humanitarians who will echo the need for pluralism and unity to counter the extremism and lack of hope that is spreading like wildfire.
Our goal is to bring about a fundamental change in the contract between the individual and the state as it is being currently practiced. It is to recalibrate the implementation of the existing Constitution and the obligations of both the State and the individual.
Our vision is for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pakistan engaged positively with the world community.
Nelson Mandela once said “It always seems impossible, until its done”

I encourage  you all to come together in unity and take the First Step on this journey.

Salman’s Message to you

Thanks for your interest in this Urgent Pak initiative. Our first step is galvanizing a social network of Pakistanis and friends of Pakistan to agree on these three imperatives (Aman,Rozi & Taleem) for all Pakistanis. We’re working on a documentary film which will highlight through arts and culture the power and resilience of Pakistan. Friends like you can help us in many ways,

• Help amplify the message of A.R.T. Campaign throughout your social media networks.
• Help us identify organizations who would like to amplify this movement across Pakistan.
• Expand your imagination on the three words (Aman,Rozi & Taleem) and what they mean to you as a Pakistani, and write an op-ed /blog in the media
• Help support our media out reach and town hall events with resources.
• Think of a better way than above to help spread ART across Pakistan.

Supporters of A.R.T

Dr. Tahir Ul Qadri, Maulana Ghamidi, Pervez Hoodboy, Akbar Ahmad, Syed Babar Ali, Amin Hashwani,Beena Sarwar, Dr.Samina Ahmad, Reza Aslan (author of How to win a cosmic war) Amy Tan (author), Stanley Wolpert (author of Jinnah) Dr.Azra Raza, DR.Tasnim Raza, Abid Shaban, Mehmal Sarfraz, Taimur Rahman (professor LUMS / Laal) Pakistani students Lums, Harvard, Columbia,Princeton, AIESEC, Dr. Mahjabeen Islam, Imraan Ghazali, Rashid rahman, Nosheen Rahman, Suhail Shaikh, plus hundreds of others.

“It’s time we understood that the Arts are huge drivers for change. Whilst many policy-makers consider the Arts to be a fluffy luxury in times of crisis, it is up to us – the creatives – not to simply produce good work, but to evaluate the success of it and to present it in a meaningful way. No where in the world is the potential for using the Arts to develop peace, jobs and education greater than in Pakistan”
- Caroline Jaine – artist, film-maker with a background in diplomacy and communication

“The 21st century is an era of connectivity and communication. The global community wants to see a strong and stable Pakistan become a vital place for A.R.T. ( peace,economic security and education).”
- Deepak Chopra

“Art transcends human frailty and weaknesses and elevates human emotions to levels that bring the best out in us. The Pakistan ART campaign promises to stir the soul of Pakistanis in these challenging times and elevate thought and action to a level that brings out the best in every human being. Most importantly, I am sure this campaign will kindle a strong desire in the hearts of Pakistanis to work towards peace with its neighbours and foster brotherly love between all those who are blessed to live in South Asia.”
-R K Pachauri, (Nobel Prize Winner)

“In my visits to Pakistan, I found a country facing tremendous difficulties with poverty, access to healthcare and education. But everywhere I went, I found a vibrant, optimistic people with a deep sense of culture and the arts. The ART campaign could not be better timed, especially for the youth of Pakistan. There can be no better effort to lift the spirits of all Pakistanis than to know that their culture and arts are gifts to be shared, not only with each other, but also with the whole world.”

-Jeff Skoll (Chairman of Skoll Foundation, co-founder and ex-President of E-bay,Chairman of Participant Production film company)

“Art enables us to look directly into the heart of the artist and appreciate his or her unique vision of the world, sense of beauty, nobility, compassion and empathy. The Pakistan Art Campaign will enable Pakistanis to appreciate the soul of their nation. And it will enable the rest of the world to look into the unique soul of Pakistan and – at a time of international tension – learn about the reality of Pakistan, which lies beneath the headlines, and come to a new understanding of the beauty, generosity, compassion and courage of the Pakistani spirit’. ‘I have come to love Pakistan and would like the world to see the country and the people as I do.”

- Karen Armstrong (Author and creator of the Charter for compassion)

“When I listen to people talk about peace efforts and concerns about Pakistan, I worry that much of the focus is short-sighted.  The future also depends on addressing the heart, soul, and mind of the younger generation–the children, youth, and young adults, those under 29, who constitute half of the world’s population.  Sooner than we think, they will decide what happens in an expanding world.  How can we prepare them to address the issues of peace that relate so much to poverty, disease, inequality, and lack of education?  One answer is obvious: By creating more gateways through the social media they are adept at using daily–Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and other connection points.  That is where they create communities and have real-time dialogue about both shared interests and their uniqueness.
.
ART creates the new important portals for bridging communities.  Pakistanis are individuals with their own ways of thinking about their lives and their attitudes about the rest of the world.  ART emphasizes the daily, ongoing concerns of youth–jobs, education, and opportunities, what they need to take care of for themselves as  they look outward.  ART can go beyond the limitations of  world politics and diplomacy by going directly to the ongoing source for daily positive change:  children and youth.

I am grateful they have come on the scene. ”

–Amy Tan (Author & Activist)

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President of the Islamabad chapter and the past Seminar Chairperson WAFA, Farhana Azim  represented Pakistan. She was assisted by Asma Ansari (advisor Islamabad chapter.) The International Honorary Exhibit representing Pakistan was designed and and  exhibited by Anjum Rehman (past president Lahore Club) and assisted by Samia Sikander.

Three Floral Design artists had been invited to judge at the show in Boston. They were Amtul Rauf Khan, Shahimah Sayeed,  Zareena Asghar Khan and Tanvir Khwaja, all past presidents, Karachi Club.

Competitors from Islamabad Chapter include Farhat Zaman, Anver Jehan Ansari, Farhana Azim, Asma Ansari, Waqar Boolani, Yasmin Sohail, Nasreen Cheema, Anjum Mudassar, Zeenat Afridi, Ayesha Zahid, Humaira Baber, Tahira Saleem, Shandana Bangash and Asifa Azhar. Fourteen competitors from Lahore chapter and twenty Competitors from Karachi also participated.

It goes to the credit that they came to Boston in pursuit of their passion on their own dime. They have been conducting such events in Pakistan for quite some time. Farhana Azim put a post on this blog of their event in Islamabad titled “Unity and Peace Through the Language of Flowers“.

The Pakistani exhibits to the show have been captured in the album below. It can be viewed in high resolution by clicking on the full screen icon.

Pakistani Exhibits (click to See Album)

The international exhibits can be viewed in the album below. I was impressed by the floral artists from New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Japan.

International Exhibits (Click to view Album)

Pakistan had the honor of presenting a demo with four other countries. Farhana Azim did the demo titled “Pakistan .. the land of the beautiful”.

Farhana Azim's Demo

The demo had the following video playing in the background showing scenes and people of Pakistan.

Pakistan Association of Greater Boston held a reception for the visiting Pakistani delegation at the Seaport Hotel next to the venue of the event. It gave the participants the opportunity to meet some of the local Pakistani Americans. Events like these are an ideal way to promote a better understanding of the real Pakistan around the world. The event would have had a bigger impact had the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington informed the PAGB ahead of time.

Pakistani Contingent at the PAGB Reception

Pakistan: A Country of Artists

The fact that these artists did so well in a world wide competition is a testimonial to the depth and breadth of the different forms of art that are pervasive in Pakistan. The Pakistani artistic sensibilities manifests them in music, painting, clothing, jewelry and  architecture. Some of examples can be seen below.

Floral Art

Fashion

Calligraphy

Viewed through the prism of her artists, Pakistan is a far cry from how it is depicted in the US media. There was no Af-Pak to be seen in the visiting delegation. These women wore whatever dress that they were proud to wear. They did not need foreign aid to fund their activities.  Events like this and Olympics bring out the best in all countries and help us all understand the diversity of world’s culture. I would like to thank WAFA for holding such a show in Boston with a very appropriate title for our times.

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The recent US mission to get Osama without the knowledge of Pakistan Air Force was a success because of PAF’s lack of investment in sensors that can detect low flying aircraft in undulating and hilly terrain. This is not the first time that PAF has been caught in this embarrassing situation. Indian Air Force was able to penetrate deep into Pakistani territory in 1971, knowing that PAF did not have low level radar coverage in many areas.  At that time PAF depended on mobile observer units (MOUs) for human visual and aural detection of planes.  This man power intensive brute force effort only worked in limited areas and only during war. Despite investing in limited low altitude radars and airborne radars it is obvious that there are gaping holes in the air defense system as exemplified by the unscathed operation of multiple large rotor helicopters for hours in Pakistani airspace deep into its territory.

This story is specially poignant because way back in 1977 when I graduated from College of Aeronautical Engineering in Korangi Karachi, I had won the best project award for designing a device for acoustic detection of low to medium altitude flying aircraft. The Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan was the chief guest at the graduation and, knowing the vulnerabilities that PAF had experienced during the 1971 war, instructed that PAF should productize and widely deploy and advanced version of the device that I had designed. I was posted to a squadron that was dedicated to developing electronic warfare equipment with this goal in mind. Unfortunately ACM Zulfiqar retired and ACM Anwar Shamin became the new Chief of PAF. He and some of his coterie of highly corrupt senior officers were  unfortunately more interested in getting commissions from buying radars and other equipment from foreign countries. Not only was my project canceled but I was also not allowed to design or develop other electronic warfare equipment locally.

PAF has bought radars for the detection of low flying aircraft called MPDR as well as airborne radar planes called AWACs. The MPDR radars have limited ranges of a maximum of 90 km. So a large number of them have to be deployed to cover any reasonable area. They tend to get deployed to cover critical areas during wartime.

PAF also has three Swedish made and one Chinese made AWAC. They are relatively slow propeller driven planes that are expensive to maintain in the air at all times. The number of AWACs is also limited so they are used with care.

Since no PAF spokesman or anyone else has tried to explain the failure to detect to Pakistanis, I will try to shed some light in simplified terms. Pakistani media has further confused the issue by focusing on the wrong aspects that PAF was trying to conserve the life of its long range radars. First of all there is not much money to be saved by keeping these long range radars off and secondly even if they had been on and they were most probably were, they would not have been able to detect low flying helicopters in the northern hills as they cannot provide that kind of coverage.

No matter how much stealth technology you apply to a helicopter the large rotor makes it highly detectable to radars.  It has recently been disclosed that large non stealth twin rotor Chinook helicopters had also been used. Had the AWACS been in the air and on location they would have easily detected the helicopters. But this is not being considered war time, they were not flying. The slow speed of propeller driven AWACs meant that they could not have been sent over the area in response to the scramble after hearing the news from Abbottabad. MPDRs could have detected the copters, but Pakistan has only a limited numbers and are deployed on the eastern fronts or close to high value areas like airfields.  This leaves vast areas in the northern mountains essentially uncovered by any sensor. This is actually quite tragic given that it is quite easy to deploy the kinds of sensor that I had developed way back in 1977.  Cheap solar powered version of those sensors can easily be linked using low power communications to instrument the whole northern areas.

The two F-16s that were scrambled in response were essentially flying blind at night trying to figure out where to look in a very wide area.  PAF chief recently made a statement that with the induction of three more Chinese AWACS PAF will be able to provide radar coverage for all of Pakistan.  If you take into account war time attrition, jamming, turn around time etc. the effective force of AWACs that can be relied upon to be available at any one time is at the most two to three at any one time. With a radius of only couple of hundred miles, this would only protect Sargodha and Karachi vicinities at best. They will also need to be effectively protected with fighters which would make the cost of operations quite high and not easily sustainable over a long time. What PAF really needs are more AWACs on a jet driven fast platform that can accompany the fighters to provide cost effective deterrence.  The PAF chief needs to get realistic and ask for what is needed for the effective protection rather than making tall claims.

The pilots in PAF occupy such a glorified position that their leadership results in the acquisition of sexy fighters like F-16s at the cost of smart combination of tools that deliver cost effective and efficient defense solutions.  PAF is still buying expensive US made fighter planes when there are multiple opportunities of partnering with other friendly countries to produce planes for her needs.  The much touted JF-17 was nearly cancelled as many pilots thought it would be a threat to more F-16 procurement. Again a change in leadership saved it. PAF is the only air force in the world that runs an aircraft manufacturing institution.  The reason no other country’s air force does that is because they leave it to the efficiency of the civil sector to deliver planes and focus on their primary and constitutionally approved task of the air defense of the country.

In 1965 USA gifted the nation of Pakistan with one of greatest gifts that can be given to a nation. America helped create College of Aeronautical Engineering at Korangi that was modeled along the lines of US Air Force Institute of Technology. A wide variety of advanced tools ranging from super sonic and subsonic tunnels along with expensive electronics equipment was provided to PAF. The academic standard was maintained by sending American instructors and some inducted from the civilian sector. Despite these investments Pakistan has not designed a single locally designed aircraft as the engineers coming out of this institutions were primarily used for maintenance duties that does not even scratch the education imparted at this college. The graduates actually do very well when they go to the civil sectors and are found to be leading most of the companies and academia in engineering.  The PAF further eroded quality teachers when the college got moved to Risalpur for the sake of being close to pilot training institute. This is a lesson for US policy planners to learn before they give sophisticated assistance to the military sector. Had the college been given to the civil sector with the understanding that it would also allow limited military cadets to also participate, chances are that real aerospace engineering might have occurred and  the quality of education might have been maintained.

Pakistan has many companies that produce UAVs but PAF still buys Italian UAVs and Pakistani President still looks to the US to providing them.

These recent events should be a wake up call to Pakistan and its leadership to start making the right choices for protecting the Pakistani citizens from external and internal threats. The shape and scope of Pakistan’s needs must be reviewed and appropriate changes made correctly engage the civil sector to fulfill them.

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I was recently invited to a dinner by a doctor friend where I had the opportunity to meet Ethan Casey and Todd Shea. Ethan has written a book called “Alive and Well in Pakistan” which captures his interactions with Pakistanis  in his stay there. Most of the people there were doctors of Pakistani descent living around the Boston area. They had organized a fund raiser a day earlier and the dinner was to get to meet these two gentlemen up close. I had met Todd Shea earlier a couple of years ago and was familiar with his work and admired how he had been able to connect with the people of Kashmir and had decided to settle amongst them. As we got talking it struck me that we in the US of Pakistani descent shared a lot in common the two guests. Todd mentioned that he deliberately travels in T shirt and western clothes without carrying any weapons and the people in Pakistan greatly appreciate it. A lady guest at the dinner,who works in a large retail store,  commented that ever since 9/11 she makes it a point to let people know that she is a Pakistani Muslim and that vast majority of people that she interacts with appreciate it. Ethan and Todd in their efforts are trying to convey to the Americans that Pakistanis are like regular people that have been wrongfully demonized in the US press to suit the narrative concocted by the US policy makers to further their goals of hegemony and power projection.

Unlike Gregg Mortenson and Todd Shea who got engaged in Pakistan in the areas of social engagement, Ethan has engaged America with Pakistan on an intellectual level. The journey that he weaves in his book through the discourse with various elements of the Pakistani society is like looking into a pond, where you find insights into the Pakistani thinking as well as a reflection of an American mind set. Gregg and Todd by and large engage with the poorer and remote parts of Pakistan. Ethan on the other hand interacts with more well to do city dwellers. When Ethan talks in front of American audiences they react to him very differently and get quite confused for what he has to say runs contrary to the carefully controlled narrative that Americans have been fed by the main stream new media. Todd mentioned an interesting story about completely changing the impression of an American in a short elevator ride. He asked the questioned that which is the only country that the USSR threatened with nuclear annihilation and for what. Todd also highlighted his frustration with the like of Anderson Cooper and Geraldo when he tried to make them cover the nearly 200 physicians of Pakistani descent assisting him in responding to the earthquake in Haiti. That story was not covered at all as it did not agree with the overall Pakistani narrative in the US media.

As the conversation went back and forth between their experiences in Pakistan and our experiences in the US, it became clear that the story of our experiences here is equally untold as the story of Westerners in Pakistan.  President of an Islamic Center outside Boston narrated the response by high school students to threats of protests by an extremist christian group that planned to protest outside the center.  These high school kids not only came out in larger numbers, without being asked by the center, but also raised and donated money to the center. He also narrated his experience in front of the town building committee when they were trying to upgrade the center, that a neighbor waited late into the night. And when the turn came he stood up and told the committee that the center had been a good neighbor to the community and that even if there is some deficiency in their proposal they should overlook it. Another gentleman in the gathering who had been the president of the center after 9/11 narrated his story, that when he opened the doors of the center the day after 9/11 he was horrified to see a large gathering of white folks outside, as the center’s membership is of mostly mixed ethnicities.  But then he realized that they were carrying flowers and had come over to make sure nothing untoward happened to the center and wanted to know how they could help.

Framingham Library did a month long activities around Gregg Mortenson’s book “Three Cups of Tea” which included talks about Pakistani history, cultural show of Pakistani dresses and cooking etc.. Local papers are getting into the act of lifting the veil of Muslim and Pakistani customs by writing articles about our faith and its practices. Last year Metro West carried an article called “Muslims celebrate Ramadan, battle misperceptions” about the fasting in Ramadan and how American Muslims go about practicing it. Part of it covered the breaking of the fast at our place.

Javed Jabbar who is conducting a book tour of his book “Pakistan-Unique Origins Unique Destiny?” paints a very different picture of Pakistan in the US. He was invited to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and his talk can be viewed here.

While the challenges in educating Americans about Pakistan are huge, I am encouraged by the presence of people like Ethan, Todd , Gregg and the young American generations who can see the goodness in others and not be swayed by the messages in the mainstream media. The coming years are going to be very trying in the relations between the two countries, but I believe that the truth about Pakistan cannot remain hidden from the American public for too long. At some point the decent among the Americans are going to demand that an end be put to the criminal drone attacks on a country whose leaders have abrogated their responsibilities to protect them.  The destiny of the Planet Earth is intimately linked to the harmonious relationship between the people of these two great countries.

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On a drizzly cold night in Dec of 1965 I found myself traveling  with my father to see the Tienanmen Square from our Sinchou hotel located close to the old city. I had just arrived from Pakistan via Canton on an ex-PIA Viscount turbo-prop of CAAC, the Chinese airline, and it seemed that I had landed on an alien planet. Everything was different here. The bread was white (steamed bread), music was string percussion, no one spoke English and bicycles were everywhere. Traveling on a two piece electric bus that silently carried the huddled Chinese in their quilt coats was a novelty for an eleven year old. I had seen photos of the Tienamen Square, but experiencing it at night for the first time with well light anchor buildings was a sensory overload. This was my introduction to the Pre-Cultural Revolution China, where my sense of novelty was only matched by the curiosity Chinese around me. I later on got to realized that I was only a handful of foreigners in the city and country where  PIA’s Boeing 707 was the only jet servicing the whole country. Here was a dark kid with a pointy nose in a mass of not so dark and not so pointy nosed people.

The New York Times reports, “Once banned by Mao Zedong as a bourgeois activity, stamp collecting has become increasingly popular in China in recent years. While early collectors were from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the international Chinese diaspora, some important Mainland Chinese collectors are today ‘repatriating’ stamps, in the same way that others are bringing back Chinese artworks.”

Early Experiences

China was an isolated country in those days. Nonetheless it had good relations with two Muslim countries of Pakistan and Albania because of their support in international forums.  Pakistan Chancery was therefore given priority to move to San Li Tun, which was designated as the new diplomatic enclave at the edge of the city. We moved to our new home in a new multi-story apartment that was lavish by Chinese standards. I had a unique opportunity to meet kids of diplomats from different parts of the world at a time when there was no TV, internet of iPod.

I was fascinated by the main bazaar serviced by Wang Fu Ching which was a larger version of Anarkali. It had all sorts of small shops and restaurants from different parts of China. A popular desert was apple on a stick dipped in sugar syrup. Water melons with yellow center seemed to accentuate the other worldliness of the place. Next to Wang Fu Ching was a store meant for foreigners, filled with Chinese manufactured goods that were not available to the masses. For some reason it was full of desk clocks. The covered bazaar behind that store was filled with antiques that my parents loved to shop. There were incredibly intricate pieces of art being sold at throw away prices. The huge meat shop behind the covered bazaar was full of hanging pork carcasses was quite shocking for a boy from Pakistan. My favorite restaurant was the Peking Duck restaurant where the entire meal consisted of  a specially raised Peking Duck. I can still taste the crispy skin for the appetizer.It took me a while getting used to eating Chinese style where they served one dish at a time. The soup was served at the end of the meal after you had watched sumptuous dishes go by as you had filled yourself by the fourth dish. My favorite park was BeiHai Park that had a large lake where I could row a rented boat. It was dominated with a large white pagoda on an island in the middle.

I found the Great Wall to be quite a disappointment. It is difficult for a kid to get too excited about a wall. The Ming tombs on the other hand were a case of Pharaohs combined with Sherlock Holmes.  The Ming tombs of the thirteen Ming emperors located about thirty miles outside Beijing contained their belongings and even food. The entrance of each tomb was secretly sealed and the workers were killed to keep it a secret from looters. When I visited them only three had been opened up. The Temple of Heaven had a circular platform where it was believed that the Emperor would rotate the earth with his feet as it was considered the center of the Earth.

The Forbidden City where the Emperors used to spend the winters was cold and stark. On the other hand the Summer Palace outside Beijing was a wonderfully relaxing place with large lakes and surrounding hills. The place was full of intricately ornate buildings and statues.  Larger house boats were there to take larger parties out on the Kunming lake.

Cultural Insights

I was struck by the extreme respect for elders and children in the Chinese society. I had thought that Pakistani society was not too shabby in this respect.  This respect was most visible when traveling in a bus. The buses were the main mode of transportation and they were invariably full. But no matter how full a bus was, if an older person or a person carrying a child got onto the bus, he or she was assured a seat.

I used to kid our Pakistani help by the name of Walayat Khan who would always get to sit as he would be carrying my sister Ayesha shown on the left.  I can only imagine how hard it must have been for the Chinese to implement the one child policy given their adoration for their children. I saw many older Chinese women who had trouble walking as their feet were kept artificially small using foot binding. Apparently it had been fashionable at one time to have small feet. I was fascinated by the Chinese fairy tales narrated to me by Wang, our Chinese help. China has a large collection of fairy tales with Fox spirits that can change forms.  Living in a diplomatic enclave gave me an opportunity to interact with kids of my age from a number of different countries.  Watching Beatles movies in the British embassy in the heart of pre-cultural revolution Beijing was a culturally a shocking experience.

The May 1st.  Labor Day is celebrated as one of major holidays. The central event is a huge parade in the Tienanmen Square with the biggest firework display that I have ever seen. I got to see it in an enclosure next to Chairman Mao Zedong. The fireworks happen concurrent at three levels. The lower level is generally an on going firing of dense fireworks from the square. The second level is higher altitude from an area surrounding the square, and the third level of fireworks were actually fired by anti aircraft guns and exploded at a fairly high altitude. The complexity of fireworks was further enhanced by the synchronized dance of anti aircraft lights mounted around the city. It is difficult to describe the visual art created by the synchronized luminance of constructs slowly gliding down the sky gently nudged tangentially by the wind in the back drop of a millions of humans marching in front of you.

Cultural Revolution

At times the course of human affairs takes on an intensity and complexity of such proportions that it takes decades to understand it. Cultural Revolution was one such event of the human era, and I was lucky to see it from the front seat without being scarred by it. It was a clash of mega proportions that erupted in an instance. The sleeping Chinese Dragon was waking up after being colonized but was not sure about its new values. The old guard saw in its weakness as an opportunity to assert itself, but the new power elite was not going to let it take China back to the old ways which had failed to protect it from being exploited by the foreign powers.

“Although the bourgeoisie has been overthrown, it is still trying to use the old ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the exploiting classes to corrupt the masses, capture their minds, and endeavor to stage a comeback. The proletariat must do just the opposite: It must meet head-on every challenge of the bourgeoisie in the ideological field and use the new ideas, culture, customs, and habits of the proletariat to change the mental outlook of the whole of society. At present, our objective is to struggle against and crush those persons in authority who are taking the capitalist road, to criticize and repudiate the reactionary bourgeois academic “authorities” and the ideology of the bourgeoisie and all other exploiting classes and to transform education, literature and art, and all other parts of the superstructure that do not correspond to the socialist economic base, so as to facilitate the consolidation and development of the socialist system.”

I was enrolled in a missionary school of Convent of Jesus and Mary, which was the only English medium available for the foreign children. I had enjoyed learning about world geography and history. But one fine day when I turned into the road where the school was located I was surprised to see a large number of young Red Guards occupying the school and was turned away. I later learned that the nuns and priests were charged with spying and the school had been permanently closed. This was a huge setback for all the children who were enrolled there.

The art teacher who used to come to our house to teach Chinese art to my mother also vanished and we learned later that he was considered a revisionist. Anyone charged as being a revisionist was publicly disgraced by being paraded on a truck around the city with a placard of his counter revolutionary acts hanging around his head. These were very bewildering times as eleven million Red Guards paraded around the city. The speakers located on most central public roads blared national songs and propaganda. The result of listening to those songs is that I still know two of the songs even though I made no attempt to learning them. One of the songs is “The East is Red” that can also be seen below.

Freedom

With no school and parents busy in their diplomatic activities, I found my self in nearly complete freedom. With a brand new Chinese bicycle in possession, I set out to see Peking from one end to the other.  My favorite destinations used to be museums, parks, sports events, movies and theatrical shows. My friends had a competition to find interesting places that were off the main areas and trade these secrets with each other.  I  watched each and every table tennis, gymnastics, volleyball and badminton games played in multi-day competitions.

The Military museum had artifacts dating back to the communist party struggle against the Nationalists who were much better armed with planes and tanks. What struck me were the grass samples that the communist leaders and others ate during their Long March. It drove home the point that when the people are motivated, it is the spirit that can overcome the deficiency in weapons.

The Peking Zoo had some of the most exotic animals. Some of them like the Giant Pandas, certain types of storks and oxens were indigenous to China.  While it was not a large zoo, it allowed spectators to get much closer to the animals than any other zoo that I have been to.

The public bus system of Peking was very extensive and if you had a pass you could go from one end of Peking to another without even changing the bus.  No school meant having the opportunity to do just that all day long.

Deification of Mao

Chairman Mao was the closest thing to God. Anyone who shook his hand, people would come and shake his hand. The communist party did a great job in using the medium of art to project their values and visions of the future.  The walls around the city had huge billboards with art work that showed how they wanted to see their country in the years to come.  It seemed that the country was bursting with energy like a stem cell, and the communist party was trying to guide that energy to a bigger and brighter future that was egalitarian.

The created many musical and theatrical productions to convey this message. I had the opportunity to experience the fervor that they created amongst the viewers.  This was also true of many movies that showed the successful struggles of masses against the oppressors, whether they were foreign or local.

Return to Pakistan

My parents decided that I have had enough fun and it was time to get back into the education system. The Principal of Cadet College of Hasan Abdal had mercy on me and admitted me even though I did not do well in Urdu. I flew out of Shanghai on a PIA Being 707 and happened to be the only passenger on it. On the way it stopped in Canton at 1 am in the morning. There were passengers from a couple of Ilushin turbo props from North Vietnam and Laos already at the airport.  The Chinese had organized a short cultural program for the passengers of these airlines. So they all waited for the single passenger from this huge plane to come down and witness the show. As the show ended, the single passenger walked away into his standing Boeing. Thus bringing his journey through the tumultuous  China to an end in a cultural crescendo that faded into the night as the Boeing climbed out of the clouds headed for Dacca, being fussed over by seven air hostesses and staff.

Pakistan China Friendship

The work done by members of the Pakistan Embassy in those defining times laid the foundation of Pakistan China friendship. The result of those efforts is that there are now approximately 10,000 Chinese workers  engaged in 120 projects in Pakistan, which includes heavy engineering, power generation, mining, and telecommunications. One of the high visibility project is the jointly developed JF-17 amongst many other defense related joint projects.

“The cause of such high prices of Chinese stamps is to some extent simply because that the regular China stamp has generally included a tremendous amount of fine detail and been manufactured under incredibly high standards. These high standards have acquired Chinese stamps extensive recognition amidst passionate stamp enthusiasts over the years, and it is easy to recognize the quality of workmanship and creativity that get into each and every stamp. Chinese culture has sustained for thousands of years. Its stamps are soaked in history, and easily tell a story that has lived with for generations without count.”

You can view some of my Chinese stamp collection by clicking on the image below.

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The Floral Art Society of Pakistan (FASP) organized a national event this year in Islamabad to raise funds for the flood effected people. It consisted of floral exhibits displayed by the members of the  four chapters and demonstrations done by members of the FASP Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The theme of the demo was “Unity and peace through The Language of Flowers”.

The Floral Art Society of Pakistan (FASP) is affiliated with the World Association of Flower Arrangers(WAFA). The aim is to promote education, the promotion of floral art and conservation.

We learn through exchange of concepts at the national and international level. We have five chapters in Pakistan in Karachi, Lahore, Bahawalpur, Peshawer and Islamabad. I am currently the President of the Islamabad chapter. We collected nearly 800,000 Rs in this 1 1/2 hr event. The viewing of display was open to public for the day. We plan to use the sum for the rehabilitation of the effective, after assessing their need and  providing them with stuff to start their own work. National events take place annually at different chapters, where members compete in arranging flowers, demonstrate , hold workshops and Seminars. Every year we collect funds to aid some charity or the other, so as to make this hobby socially worthwhile as well.
World Floral Shows,and Seminars are held every three years where nearly 500 competitors from 30 countries of the world. Our members are talented and through their creativity have won laurels for the country at national and international events.The 7th World show held in Japan where 13 of our members won prizes. This responsibility is shared by different countries for 4 years  and then passed on to the next. Pakistan got the responsibility after Japan from 2005 to 2008. This was then passed on to USA who has it from 2008 to 2011, when they will have the WAFA World Show in Boston June 2011. At least 50 of our members would be competing in the Show. Five demonstrators would be representing their country and I will Inshallah be representing Pakistan at the international demonstration.

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Today is the ninth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan by US troops. It is time to reflect on the manner in which US got involved. It is also a good time to look at responsible ways to get out of the Afghan quagmire while ensuring peace for all the nations involved.  To re-phrase the line from the movie “Gladiator”, “Countries should know when the war has been lost”. This comment is not a reflection on the proud soldiers serving there, and has more to do with the policy. I had stated in a publicly broadcast show that the war in Afghanistan had been lost early last year.  Everything since then has gone downhill,  as was easily predictable to those who have the slightest sense of the region. It is already the longest war that US has ever fought. Churchill once said that “America will always do the right thing, but only after exhausting all other options.” It is now time to do the right thing as all the options have been exhausted.

I believe the main reason for hastily attacking Afghanistan after 9/11 was primarily a need to take revenge. This was abundantly evident by the expletive markings on the bombs being loaded onto aircraft aboard aircraft carriers to attack. Pakistani leader was begging for more time to work on Talibans to offer Osama bin Laden for trials. Had the Bush administration not been blinded by sheer hubris, we could have had him and his cohorts without resulting in huge human and monetary loss.

In my opinion the war was lost before it even started. The reasons have to do with the way it was planned. The fundamental long term mistake made then was that we wanted to do Afghanistan on the cheap. Then Secy Rumsfeld was obsessed with containing costs and wanted to do Iraq first. So we chose the easy way in the short term by using Northern Alliance and committed far fewer troops than were needed. These decisions were made in a rush and not enough long term thinking was put in. The result was that Osama got away in Tora Bora and we ended up working with  Northern Alliance, a group far more criminal than the Taliban. An important side effect of this association was giving India the back door space into Afghanistan, as they were supporting the Northern Alliance. We were forced into resorting to the blunt instrument of bombing from the air at the slightest provocation, since we did not have boots on the ground. This in the long run turned us into a brutal occupational force in the eyes of most Afghanis. This fact could be witnessed recently on CBS’s 60 minutes, where US soldiers ventured out only in their armored MRAPS and no Afghani was willing to work with them.

It does not serve anyone much to dwell on the past. What is essential is to do the right thing going ahead. I don’t think US can afford this war in the medium to long term when 40% of the US population is hovering around the poverty line, and the cost of getting one gallon of gasoline to Afghanistan is a whopping $800.

We need to immediately do the following things:

• Training Afghan Army a lot more aggressively.
• Distance ourselves from the Karzai gang of warlords and criminals. ( Read Taliban by Ahmed Rashid  for more details.)
• Get a much larger (300,000+) peace keeping force in Afghanistan, from preferably muslim countries.
• Give more representation to Pashtuns, who are the majority.

We must not do is

• Talk to the Talibans.
• Conduct criminal drone attacks on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Alienate Pakistan by military incursions and intrusive activities into their internal affairs.

I am no longer too sure about Churchill’s words. My prediction is that we will be in Afghanistan till well into the next century. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.

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To all you Pakistanis all over the world, our country is unquestionably faced with the worst crisis of all times. I cannot express the grief and the sorrow that I am witnessing. I want you all to understand that this is worst then the 2005 earthquake.  Do not use the death toll to quantify the scale of the disaster. Believe me the misery and the pain is much much more. The aftermath of the floods will be far more devastating then the floods themselves. Today official figures claim 20 million displaced affected people, but this figure can take a severe climb. As I write this secondary flood warnings are flashing on all local news channels.

I want you to know the story of Mehmood Dost Khan. A middle class businessman of Naushera. he took refuge on his double story house roof top. At night when the flood water exceeded his roof, in a blink of an eye his two year old son and 5 month old daughter along with his wife were  swept away by the raging current into the darkness of the night. All night he screamed there names and cried. He has not seen them since. He remains in a state of denial. The bodies have not been found. Local army officers tell me the bodies could have traveled as far as 200 kilometers.

I want you to meet Tayyaba Bibi, who was found dangling by a tree. She is a 68 year old widow, who remembers that at sunset she climbed the roof of her house, with her son and pregnant daughter in law. Then in a flash they were dragged under water and she lost consciousness. She was rescued by the Pakistan Army, but to date there is no news of her family.

I want you to know 8 month baby Ahmed, who died of hunger in his mother’s arms, waiting for rescue boats or helicopters that arrived at their location 6 days later. It was a group of 16 stranded on a small patch of higher ground.

I want you to imagine the pain of those parents who are totally helpless sitting on road sides with their children. In their eyes there is pain, horror and most of all despair. They do not know where the next meal is going to come from if at all.

Pakistan is faced by the most unbelievable task. These floods are a challenge to humanity.

I want you to understand that the real disaster starts now.

Visit any market in Pakistan and you will witness two things. The rise in prices of food items due to Ramadan, and a second escalation of food prices due to the floods. Yes there many who want to profit from this disaster.

Millions are displaced and awaiting food supplies while you read this email. They are desperate, vulnerable and hungry. They need food, they need shelter and they need medical attention.

Remember we all have to die and we are all answerable in the after life. These men women and children are asking for help through their silent screams. You can choose to listen and do something about it, or delete this mail and forget about it.

Ask yourself one thing. Could this not happen to any of us? Is Karachi, New York, London, Dubai protected from earthquakes, floods or other disasters? Truth is it can happen to anyone of us. It could have been you and me who could have lost a loved one in raging river waters. It could have been you or me standing in the middle of no where praying for a helicopter or boat to take us to safety. It could have been our child that died of hunger. Pause and think.

We have to rise again. All of us. The task this time much bigger and deadlier then the 2005 earthquake.

We must build food cycles, so that a constant supply can be made to the hungry people. You the overseas Pakistanis have to help us build food stocks so that there is no food shortage, and that the profiteers are not allowed to escalate local food prices, which will burden the other 70 percent poor population of Pakistan.

Friends I am merely a human being like all of you. I am not perfect. I am not a very religious man. But I feel the pain and misery of others, and I am constantly haunted by the fear that this could have been us.

So this is what we need to do:

1. Build food cycles by sending food items to Pakistan.
2. Create shelter by sending all weather tents.
3. Set up medical patrol volunteer teams with plenty of medication.

The rehabilitation, reconstruction is a far more daunting task, and it is  best left to the government.

This is what you have to do:

Get a carton box size 15 x 15 x 12. This size has been chosen because it gives us the optimum volume to weight ratio for our purpose.

Fill it with the following:

1. Two 1.5 liter bottles of water.
2. Two packs of sweet biscuits.
3. 12 packs of 200 ml to 250 ml juices.
4. 6 small packets of potato chips.
5. 2 bars of anti germ soap

6. 1 small bottle of insect repellant.

7. 1 box of dates.
8. 1 box of chocolates.
9. 1 sachet of glucose and vitamin energy mix ( ORS)
10. 1 liter carton of milk.

Pack this with extreme love and care, and take this box to a PIA cargooffice. All this cargo will be transported absolutely free of cost onpriority by PIA. As soon as it arrives at an airport in Pakistan. It will be custom cleared on priority and immediately handed over to Pakistan Army and very relevant NGOS like the Red Cross and NCHD. Note the cargo once on board a PIA flight will reach the affected recipient with 36 hours.

Remember the severity and the magnitude is so much that every box counts. If we can build a cycle then nothing like it. But remember requirements will change in the next 30 to 40 days. But the box size will remain the same.

Also please send as many all weather tents as you can send.

Finally please do not send used clothes. Do not send irrelevant donations. Most of all NO MONEY. I have set up this system so that every little bit counts. Let’s make it happen. The logistics are there and you know what to do. You will see me on and off on various TV channels. I will update you all step by step. PIA is our back bone in this operation. If at any stage you have any complains with the PIA people please call Captain Salman on +92-321-2232777. He is the head of the relief operation and our main
contact person in PIA for relief. You can reach me on my email
falam76@gmail.com

Time to rise

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