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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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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After the shock and awe of beginnings of war is over and the dust from the towers has settled, comes the real face of war. How survivors face that face is the story of the mothers and wives who are left behind to cope with the decisions of the leaders who chose to wage them. Two American wives of the victims of 9/11 attack ,  Patricia Quigley and Susan Retik,  decided to turn their tragedy into hope for widows in Afghanistan.

I had the opportunity to meet and see Susan Retik’s presentation of the video “Beyond Belief” in a sold out hall at Islamic Center of Wayland on the ninth anniversary of 9/11 attack.  The work of these two ladies is a source of inspiration to all who face adversity. They took the hand that had been dealt to them and turned it into something worthy for all of us to emulate. Rather than getting overwhelmed by the sudden loss and the prospects of raising young children alone, they found strength in empathizing with the widows in Afghanistan; who had not only lost their husbands but were facing numerous other hardships.  The thing that struck me was the similarity of experience of mothers no matter where they come from. There is a particularly poignant scene in the video where Susan is meeting the widows that her organization “Beyond the 11th” supports, and an elderly lady is helped into the room. She had lost seven boys to the wars that have ravaged Afghanistan. You will need to watch and experience the emotions on her face in the video below.

Susan originally wanted to help only one widow. But as she realized that the cost of living in Afghanistan is so amazingly low when compared to that in US, she decided to actually support 400 of them. Through her fund raising efforts, that started with bicycling from Ground Zero to Boston, she was able to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars that she funneled to different women empowering projects through CARE.

Patricia and Susan are the face of America that gives rise to hope that Americans will eventually overcome their fears and assist those regions of the world that we have forgotten, rather than bombard them through drone attacks. Similar inspirational efforts have been effectively undertaken by Greg Mortenson through the creation of schools for girls.

I would urge you all to join and contribute to the efforts of those Americans who will win for us the hearts and minds of those that so desperately need our attention. On Planet Earth there are no borders, we are all connected.

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Water was not what I had in mind this early in my read of Quran, but with so much going on related to it, I decided to discuss it earlier than later. Water as we know it is the source of life. When NASA sends its probes to different heavenly bodies, one of the key pieces of information is the presence of water. Indeed one of the key recent discoveries recently have been the presence of water on the poles of the Moon and the possibility of it on Mars. So it is not surprising to find multiple references to water in different contexts in Quran.

“We have made every living thing out of water.” (Sura 21 The Prophets, ayat 30).

The Quranic account of the forming of the Cosmos places great emphasis on water, as demonstrated in other ayat in the preceding sura which on the one hand lists heaven, earth, the moon, the sun, night, day etc. as natural factors in the creation of the universe and, on the other, speaks of a single element that infuses life into the universe: water. The Quran immediately asserts, however, that water fills the entire inanimate universe with life: “He is the One Who created Heaven and Earth in six days. His Throne rises over the water”. For certain commentators, this means in effect that water was the origin for both heaven and earth and that Allah drew from it the natural elements as well as all living creatures. Thus every life on earth owes its existence to the element of water: “Among His signs He sends water down from the sky so He may revive the earth with it following its death.” (Sura 30 The Romans, ayat 24). The vivifying property of water is repeated in many ayat: “He sends the winds to bring news so He may let you taste some of His mercy (sura 30, ayat 46)… And any water God sends down from the sky with which to revive the earth following its death and to scatter every kind of animal throughout it. We give it in due measure as a sign to those who are wise” or again “We have sent down blessed water from the sky and We grow gardens with it as well as grain to be harvested and soaring palms which have compact clusters as sustenance for worshipers. We have revived a dead countryside with it; thus will (your) reappearance be”.

The Quran calls for proper governance of water and the equitable sharing of this vital resources when it says: “Announce to them how water must be shared among them; each will have his own special time to drink “ (sura 54 The Moon, ayat 28).

Proper management of water resources is going to be essential for nations to live in harmony with one another. The the climate changes and population increases happening around us, certain regions will gain more rainfall and others less. The glaciers that used to hold water and release them slowly are rapidly diminishing, thereby taking away the natural water retention mechanisms.  Water related issues will be most magnified in the poorer countries. “People in developing countries understand the absence of it,” says John Briscoe, newly appointed Professor of the Practice of Environmental Health at HSPH.  If it doesn’t rain, women who haul water for their families must walk vast distances to fetch it. Without rain, the lights go out in hydro-powered locales. Lack of sanitary facilities in schools deters girls from an education. Indian farmers unable to drill into dwindling aquifers even commit suicide. “Water is not taken for granted,” Briscoe says. “People live with insecurity at every turn.”

South Asia is particularly water challenged region of the world. Northern India’s underground water supply is being pumped and consumed by human activities — principally to irrigate cropland — faster than the aquifers can be replenished by natural processes. This data was published in the August 20 issue of Nature based on observations from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE).

On the other hand recent floods in Pakistan could be the result of global climate change that has already resulted rapid reduction in the size of glaciers in the Himalayas. The combined results of floods, glaciers and lowered water tables require that the nations of the region address the problem of water storage and usage in an equitable manner. John Briscoe warns of potential conflicts in the region should these nations fail to work together in his article titled “War or Peace on the Indus”.

It is quite evident by now that the developed world is not ready to change its habits any time soon in order to reverse the effects of global climate change. The bulk of impact will be on the developing world. They will need to adjust the economic priorities to address the water issues and all ramifications on food and health in a manner that does not effect the adjacent countries.

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Anyone foolish enough to write on war or peace in the Indus needs to first banish a set of immediate suspicions. I am neither Indian nor Pakistani. I am a South African who has worked on water issues in the subcontinent for 35 years and who has lived in Bangladesh (in the 1970s) and Delhi (in the 2000s). In 2006 I published, with fine Indian colleagues, an Oxford University Press book titled India’s Water Economy: Facing a Turbulent Future and, with fine Pakistani colleagues, one titled Pakistan’s Water Economy: Running Dry.

I was the Senior Water Advisor for the World Bank who dealt with the appointment of the Neutral Expert on the Baglihar case. My last assignment at the World Bank (relevant, as described later) was as Country Director for Brazil. I am now a mere university professor, and speak in the name of no one but myself.

I have deep affection for the people of both India and Pakistan, and am dismayed by what I see as a looming train wreck on the Indus, with disastrous consequences for both countries. I will outline why there is no objective conflict of interests between the countries over the waters of the Indus Basin, make some observations of the need for a change in public discourse, and suggest how the drivers of the train can put on the brakes before it is too late.

Is there an inherent conflict between India and Pakistan?

The simple answer is no. The Indus Waters Treaty allocates the water of the three western rivers to Pakistan, but allows India to tap the considerable hydro-power potential of the Chenab and Jhelum before the rivers enter Pakistan. The qualification is that this use of hydro-power is not to affect either the quantity of water reaching Pakistan or to interfere with the natural timing of those flows. Since hydro-power does not consume water, the only issue is timing. And timing is a very big issue, because agriculture in the Pakistani plains depends not only on how much water comes, but that it comes in critical periods during the planting season. The reality is that India could tap virtually all of the available power without negatively affecting the timing of flows to which Pakistan is entitled.

Is the Indus Treaty a stable basis for cooperation?

If Pakistan and India had normal, trustful relations, there would be a mutually-verified monitoring process which would assure that there is no change in the flows going into Pakistan. (In an even more ideal world, India could increase low-flows during the critical planting season, with significant benefit to Pakistani farmers and with very small impacts on power generation in India.) Because the relationship was not normal when the treaty was negotiated, Pakistan would agree only if limitations on India’s capacity to manipulate the timing of flows was hardwired into the treaty. This was done by limiting the amount of “live storage” (the storage that matters for changing the timing of flows) in each and every hydro-power dam that India would construct on the two rivers.

While this made sense given knowledge in 1960, over time it became clear that this restriction gave rise to a major problem. The physical restrictions meant that gates for flushing silt out of the dams could not be built, thus ensuring that any dam in India would rapidly fill with the silt pouring off the young Himalayas. This was a critical issue at stake in the Baglihar case. Pakistan (reasonably) said that the gates being installed were in violation of the specifications of the treaty. India (equally reasonably) argued that it would be wrong to build a dam knowing it would soon fill with silt. The finding of the Neutral Expert was essentially a reinterpretation of the Treaty, saying that the physical limitations no longer made sense. While the finding was reasonable in the case of Baglihar, it left Pakistan without the mechanism – limited live storage – which was its only (albeit weak) protection against upstream manipulation of flows in India. This vulnerability was driven home when India chose to fill Baglihar exactly at the time when it would impose maximum harm on farmers in downstream Pakistan. If Baglihar was the only dam being built by India on the Chenab and Jhelum, this would be a limited problem. But following Baglihar is a veritable caravan of Indian projects – Kishanganga, Sawalkot, Pakuldul, Bursar, Dal Huste, Gyspa… The cumulative live storage will be large, giving India an unquestioned capacity to have major impact on the timing of flows into Pakistan. (Using Baglihar as a reference, simple back-of-the-envelope calculations, suggest that once it has constructed all of the planned hydro-power plants on the Chenab, India will have an ability to effect major damage on Pakistan. First, there is the one-time effect of filling the new dams. If done during the wet season this would have little effect on Pakistan. But if done during the critical low-flow period, there would be a large one-time effect (as was the case when India filled Baglihar). Second, there is the permanent threat which would be a consequence of substantial cumulative live storage which could store about one month’s worth of low-season flow on the Chenab. If, God forbid, India so chose, it could use this cumulative live storage to impose major reductions on water availability in Pakistan during the critical planting season. Views on “the water problem” from both sides of the border and the role of the press Living in Delhi and working in both India and Pakistan, I was struck by a paradox. One country was a vigorous democracy, the other a military regime. But whereas an important part of the Pakistani press regularly reported India’s views on the water issue in an objective way, the Indian press never did the same. I never saw a report which gave Indian readers a factual description of the enormous vulnerability of Pakistan, of the way in which India had socked it to Pakistan when filling Baglihar. How could this be, I asked? Because, a journalist colleague in Delhi told me, “when it comes to Kashmir – and the Indus Treaty is considered an integral part of Kashmir — the ministry of external affairs instructs newspapers on what they can and cannot say, and often tells them explicitly what it is they are to say.”

This apparently remains the case. In the context of the recent talks between India and Pakistan I read, in Boston, the electronic reports on the disagreement about “the water issue” in The Times of India, The

Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Indian Express and The Economic Times.

(Respectively, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Water-Pakistans-diversionary-tactic-/articleshow/5609099.cms,

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/ article112388.ece,

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/india/River-waters-The-next-testing-ground/Article1-512190.aspx,

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Pak-heats-up-water-sharing/583733,

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Pak-takes-water-route-to-attack-India/articleshow/5665516.cms.)

Taken together, these reports make astounding reading. Not only was the message the same in each case (“no real issue, just Pakistani shenanigans”), but the arguments were the same, the numbers were the same and the phrases were the same. And in all cases the source was “analysts” and “experts” — in not one case was the reader informed that this was reporting an official position of the Government of India.

Equally depressing is my repeated experience – most recently at a major international meeting of strategic security institutions in Delhi – that even the most liberal and enlightened of Indian analysts (many of whom are friends who I greatly respect) seem constitutionally incapable of seeing the great vulnerability and legitimate concern of Pakistan (which is obvious and objective to an outsider).

A way forward

This is a very uneven playing field. The regional hegemon is the upper riparian and has all the cards in its hands. This asymmetry means that it is India that is driving the train, and that change must start in India. In my view, four things need to be done.

First, there must be some courageous and open-minded Indians – in government or out – who will stand up and explain to the public why this is not just an issue for Pakistan, but why it is an existential issue for Pakistan.

Second, there must be leadership from the Government of India. Here I am struck by the stark difference between the behaviour of India and that of its fellow BRIC – Brazil, the regional hegemon in Latin America. Brazil and Paraguay have a binding agreement on their rights and responsibilities on the massive Itaipu Binacional Hydropower Project. The proceeds, which are of enormous importance to small Paraguay, played a politicized, polemical anti-Brazilian part in the recent presidential election in Paraguay. Similarly, Brazil’s and Bolivia’s binding agreement on gas also became part of an anti-Brazil presidential campaign theme. The public and press in Brazil bayed for blood and insisted that Bolivia and Paraguay be made to pay. So what did President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva do? “Look,” he said to his irate countrymen, “these are poor countries, and these are huge issues for them. They are our brothers. Yes, we are in our legal rights to be harsh with them, but we are going to show understanding and generosity, and so I am unilaterally doubling (in the case of Paraguay) and tripling (in the case of Bolivia) the payments we make to them. Brazil is a big country and a relatively rich one, so this will do a lot for them and won’t harm us much.” India could, and should, in my view, similarly make the effort to see it from its neighbour’s point of view, and should show the generosity of spirit which is an integral part of being a truly great power and good neighbour.

Third, this should translate into an invitation to Pakistan to explore ways in which the principles of the Indus Waters Treaty could be respected, while providing a win for Pakistan (assurance on their flows) and a win for India (reducing the chronic legal uncertainty which vexes every Indian project on the Chenab or Jhelum). With good will there are multiple ways in which the treaty could be maintained but reinterpreted so that both countries could win.

Fourth, discussions on the Indus waters should be de-linked from both historic grievances and from the other Kashmir-related issues. Again, it is a sign of statesmanship, not weakness, to acknowledge the past and then move beyond it. This is personal for me, as someone of Irish origin. Conor Cruise O’Brien once remarked, “Santayana said that those who did not learn their history would be condemned to repeat it; in the case of Ireland we have learned our history so well that we are condemned to repeat it, again and again.”

And finally, as a South African I am acutely aware that Nelson Mandela, after 27 years in prison, chose not to settle scores but to look forward and construct a better future, for all the people of his country and mine. Who will be the Indian Mandela who will do this – for the benefit of Pakistanis and Indians – on the Indus?

The writer is the Gordon McKay Professor of Environmental Engineering,

Harvard University. Email: jbriscoe@seas. harvard.edu

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Salman Ahmed is a well known musician out of Pakistan and South Asia. He is the founder of one of the most famous rock bands out of that region by the name of Junoon. He has recently written a book by the name of “Rock and Roll Jihad“. When I first heard about the book and the title it struck me as something odd. Rock and Roll and Jihad had until now not been said in the same sentence. Jihad in Arabic language means to strive. In the Islamic religious sense it means  “striving in the cause of God”. Jihad has been classified either as al-jihād al-akbar (the greater jihad), the struggle against one’s soul (nafs), or al-jihād al-asghar (the lesser jihad), the external, physical effort, often implying fighting.  Having had seen Salman grow from a cute little child to what he is now, it does not take much to understand how he has used his musical skills to achieve social activism in fighting injustices, bigotry, national animosities, disease, religious misunderstandings, religious radicalism and the list goes on.

Salman could have simply been satisfied with writing and producing love songs and could have reaped the economic rewards given the fame of his band. Instead he used that fame to achieve social and political change. He rose up against the injustices of dictatorial political regimes in Pakistan, for bringing about social harmony between Indians and Pakistanis, for better understanding between the Americans and the Muslim world and AIDS awareness around the world. He has used all mediums available to him to achieve his jihad. He chose songs to bring about social change in Pakistan. He used BBC documentary videos for better understanding between the West and Muslim world and music tours to bridge the divide between Indians and Pakistanis.  I saw him and his band in action around the Boston area not only in bringing Muslim Sufi music to American ears but also the many discussions Salman would have with the audiences after the event on socio-political issues. He first started visiting the Boston region with his band performing in schools and colleges around the region. He came to Belmont Hill School and made the prep school boys dressed up in their uniforms dance on the pews in a church at 10 am to the songs of Sain etc. . He then engaged them with discussions about Islam. He has made appearances for raising money for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital with Imran Khan and raising money for earthquake victims in Pakistan. He even had the PhDs who work at MIT Lincoln Laboratory clapping and singing to the sufi music in an auditorium at the Laboratory.

His social activism and philanthropy was recognized by UN in allowing him to hold a concert in the main UN Assembly Hall in order to raise money for Swat’s displaced people in Pakistan. Many well known musicians and leaders joined him in a packed hall on that eventful night. Some images of that concert can be seen by clicking on the image on the left.

His drive for enhancing women’s rights and stigma attached to AIDS is reflected in the attached Al Vida video. This is dedicated to a woman’s fight against the stigma, discrimination and ignorance towards the stigma, discrimination and ignorance towards people living with HIV & AIDS. She campaigns for access to medical treatment for all. Globally half of the people infected with HIV are women. She represents the human face of millions like her in Asia Pacific who are infected by their husbands.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Salman had paid the price for standing up to tyrants of various types. Ahmad and his band Junoon suffered political censorship in Pakistan during the rule of Benazir Bhutto in 1990s, partly due to a song denouncing political corruption. In 1998 during the rule of Nawaz Sharif, Junoon was again banned in Pakistan, because they protested against the nuclear power tests in India as well as their own country by saying, “Why escalate the arms race when people still need water? Why see our neighbors as enemies when we are so close to each other?”

He went public with his stance against then President Musharraf in his open letter. Full text can be seen here.

“..My support for your father’s govt  was never meant to be taken as a blank check for the state machinery to run amok and start dismantling civil institutions, making deals with crooks and plunderers, treating civil servants like common criminals, kidnapping and killing innocent Pakistanis under the guise of the “war on terror” and illegally spying, torturing and jailing thousands of Pakistanis (which include national heroes, supreme court judges, lawyers, rights activists, house wives and students).”

Ahmad denounced the Pakistani Government’s peace accord with Taliban in 2008 saying that “artists in Pakistan take their inspiration from Sufism, the tolerant and inclusive strain of Islam that is the antithesis of the beliefs of the Taliban. Commenting on the Pakistani government ‘peace agreement’ with Taliban and acceptance of ‘Sharia’ in the Swat Valley, Ahmad said, “The killing of arts and culture in Swat is an ominous sign. It is the first step in the potential Talibanization of more of the country. If you give the Taliban an inch – as Zardari has done – they will take a mile. Ahmad also suggested that, “President Asif Ali Zardari’s ill-conceived appeasement will only embolden the Taliban and may squelch more of Pakistan’s voices of peace just when Pakistanis and the world need to hear them most.”

He takes an unusual amount of time appearing on all media channels and shows in the US explaining the religious and cultural divide that exists between the East and the West, between Muslim countries and the US and the North and South.  He writes about this in his book.

The media storm after 9/11 had created an artificial divide, but I was determined to fight it. My publicist Tracy Mann booked me on radio and television to speak about our U.N. concert and help dispel some common stereotypes about Islam and Muslims. Some of the talking points I used were my own understanding of jihad and suicide. Prophet Muhammad described armed struggle against tyranny and oppression as a lesser jihad. He also warned against the dark whisperings of the nafs (ego) and called the fight against the lower self the greater jihad. The Quran says, “Man was created weak,” and it’s true. The inner jihad is a struggle for self-discovery and is about uncovering our hidden, infinite potentials. It’s about raising oneself up high (as in Iqbal’s poem “Khudi”) and never bringing others down. What the terrorists got wrong was that jihad is about overcoming our human impulses of greed, jealousy, injustice, violence, and inhumanity toward our fellow human beings.

He recently appeared in BBC’s hard talk explaining the many misunderstandings around the word Jihad and more..

Click here to view the embedded video.

I have provided specific examples on how Salman has in the past used his talents to further the causes of peace and harmony. He is an excellent role model for young and old to follow. You can follow Salman by checking out his activities at
www.junoon.com
www.ssgwi.org
twitter@sufisal

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Core technologies and capabilities that drive the economies take a long time, large amounts of money and even bigger patience to bear fruit. But once they mature, the rewards are well worth the effort.  Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers” makes a similar case for outstanding achievers, that it is more of their earlier start than their brains that make them excel. It is sustained practice of ones art or profession that over the period of time blossoms into an unsurpassed  ability.  Developing countries typically try to shy away from making investments in longer gestation technologies and therefore commit themselves to the path of perpetually playing catchup with developed countries. This is a story of a jet engine that propelled Air Forces possessing it into an unrivaled position.

J-79

In 1952, Gerhard Neumann, a German-born US-citizen, began development of what became one of the most successful military jet engines to enter production. The General Electric J79 was the first US single-shaft high performance axial flow turbojet, with adjustable guide vanes, a 17-stage compressor, three-stage turbine and ten can-type burners.  The first flight of the engine was on 20 May 1955 where the engine was placed in the bomb bay of a J47-powered B-45C . The J79 was lowered from the bomb bay and the four J47s were shut down leaving the B-45 flying on the single J79. The J79 was developed as an outgrowth of the General Electric J73 engine program and was known at first as the J73-GE-X24A. The X24A was designed for reliable Mach 2 performance with minimal required maintenance. Its innovative variable stator vanes increased compressor air pressure and helped eliminate compressor stall. Variable-incidence stators allowed the single-shaft turbojet to develop high pressures similar to those of dual-shaft engines, but at significantly lighter weight. The introduction of the variable stator vane turned out to be one of the most important developments in the history of jet aircraft engines.

More than 17,000 examples of the J79 were built in its thirty-year production run. In its long and successful career the dependable J79 accumulated well over 30 million flying hours and probably clocked more supersonic flying time than any other Western military aircraft engine produced during the Cold War. It was widely used on several types of aircraft, including the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, Convair B-58 Hustler, Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, Israeli Aircraft Industries Kfir, and North American Rockwell A-5 Vigilante. It was just over seventeen feet long, slightly more than three feet in diameter, weighed around 3,500 pounds, and produced around 9,000 pounds of dry thrust. In full afterburner the YJ79 generated around 15,000 pounds of thrust with a fuel flow rate of ten gallons per second. Later versions of the J79 weighed anywhere from 3,500 to 3,800 pounds and produced up to 17,900 pounds of thrust in full afterburner. This engine was chosen by Kelly Johnson to power his design of F-104 Starfighter.

Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson

Kelly Johnson joined Lockheed Corporation in 1933 as a tool designer. After assignments as flight test engineer, stress analyst, aero-dynamicist, weight engineer, and wind tunnel engineer, he became Chief Research Engineer in 1938. His original and creative thinking led to the development of many innovations in the aerospace industry. He contributed significantly to 40 different Lockheed airplane designs. Of these, 19 were primarily Johnson products, some of the best known aircraft in the world; the Hudson bomber, the Constellation and Super-Constellation transports, the P-38 fighter, the T-33 trainer, the F-94 interceptor, and the Jetstar. The first U.S. production jet, the F-80 Shooting Star which made its initial flight in 1944, set a pattern for Johnson and his co-workers. Managing Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects Division (The “Skunk Works“), he developed the first double-sonic U.S. jet, the F-104 Starfighter, the high flying U-2 spy plane, and the super fast Mach 3 SR-71 Blackbird.

He was not only one of the world’s foremost designers, but he was an innovative manager who gave people who worked for him challenges to constantly create better products. Johnson instinctively knew how to select people for his organization. He knew how to get the most out of the fewest people and how to get the job done—well. He let his managers run their programs with a minimum of interference. As a man of high integrity himself, Johnson expected complete honesty from the people of the Skunk Works. Mistakes were allowed, but they were to be brought to his attention immediately. And Kelly also expected recommendations to correct mistakes. His early experience in metal machining acquired during summer jobs in auto plants proved invaluable in working the heat-resistant titanium sheets needed for the SR-71’s tough skin, which heats up to cherry red temperatures of 630° F. during flight. Johnson deplored the trend toward specialization with the lament of a designer who also knows how to handle machine tools. “Some of the fellows in the Skunk Works never had any cutting oil splashed on them.”

During the Korean Was, Lockheed whisked Johnson to war-zone forward air bases in Korea to talk to fighter pilots as they returned from their missions against the Soviet fighters flown by the north. What did they want in a new fighter aircraft? The answer was simple: speed and altitude. Appropriately, Johnson’s response was also simple. Build a pilot’s fighter which did not compromise on performance, one which could outmatch anything in the Soviet arsenal including the MiG-15.

F-104 StarFighter

The resulting design would carry one powerful, multi-barreled gun, a simple radar gun sight, a pair of the new heat-seeking Sidewinder missiles then under development for the US Navy, be powered by a single, potent engine and fly higher and faster than anything in service anywhere. What’s more, it would be affordable. Ultimate performance for the new fighter meant low drag and high power. Abandoning the swept-wing twin-engine concept of the Lockheed XF-90 which had been developed from the massive German research data captured by the Allies at the end of world war II, the Skunk Works team settled upon a straight wing of very slender section. Its exceedingly thin leading edge and minimum camber would decrease shock waves and give relief from the weight and complexity of swept wings. However, the wing would have to be considerably thinner than five per cent, and the only answer to producing such a thin, straight wing was to make it extremely short. It had incredibly small knife-edged wings, sharply drooped to improve stability, a long, needle-nosed fuselage, a tall “T” tail, and open, half-circle intakes behind the cockpit. It was so futuristic in appearance it was soon dubbed by the Lockheed marketing department, “the missile with a man in it”.

The shortness of the wing also enabled the aircraft to reduce drag. In order to achieve a better low speed performance for the wing, Lockheed engineers installed wing-leading edge as well as trailing-edge flaps. The function of these flaps was to convert the thin airfoil into a highly cambered one for better take-off and landing operations. A newly designed Boundary Layer Control System (BLCS) was installed of the F-104. The BLCS allowed the aircraft’s wings to delay flow separation at full flap setting and helped to increase the aircraft’s lift capacity, using high pressure bleed air blown over the trailing edge of the wing. The F-104 was one of the few aircraft in aviation history with more engine thrust than aerodynamic drag. This margin of thrust gave the F-104 it’s high speed capability and altitude performance. It also invested the aircraft with an uncanny ability to ascend at a steeper angle and with a higher climb rate than anything else in the skies. The climb rate was one of Johnson’s primary concerns in developing the Starfighter. He and his team designed the F-104 with the ability to intercept targets at an impressive climb rate of 60,000 ft per minute, with a fully loaded aircraft. This rate could be achieved with speeds in excess of Mach 1.7, the original profile requirement, without the aircraft losing overall forward speed. Overall speed and climb rate for the F-104 could only be achieved with the utilization of a massive power plant. The F-104 was fitted with a General Electric J79 engine capable of generating 15,800 pounds of thrust at sea level. It was a massive structure that weighed 3,500lb and was 17′-3″ in length. Due to the adjustable pitch of the guide vanes and its power, the howling noise of the jet engine was quite unique. The video link  below gives you a sense of its sheer power and speed.

Pakistan Air Force & F-104

When Khruschev threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Peshawer after the U-2 incident, PAF acquired a dozen F-104s to protect the city from high flying Soviet bombers. At PAF’s request, all its F-104As were refitted with the M-61 Gatling 20   mm gun, whereas its counterparts in the USAF had been divested of their   guns on the assumption that all post-Korea air combat would occur at  high speeds where only the wing tip-mounted Sidewinder missiles would be   effective. The PAF’s foresight was amply rewarded in actual combat and   the USAF too reverted to having machine guns as mandatory equipment on all its fighters in due course. The newer GWE- J-79-11 engine was also   installed on the aircraft. This made the Pakistan F-104s somewhat   unique: they had the gun and being the lightest of F-104 series with a more advanced J-79 engine enjoyed the best thrust-to-weight ratio.

The only PAF unit to be equipped with the F-104 was No 9 Air Superiority Squadron. The squadron flies the F-16 today. The in-commission rate of   the F-104 during the first five years of service was over 80 % and all   its systems performed with high reliability. The fighter was employed in   the air-to-air role by the PAF and was used extensively for aerial gunnery against both banner targets and the Dart targets with excellent scores. In strafing attacks the M-61 gun was superbly accurate.

The F-104 Starfighters remained in service with Pakistan Air Force for twelve years and flew 11,690 hours. During the 1965 Pakistan-India War, the F-104s flew a total of 246 hours and 45 minutes while during the 1971 War, the F-104s flew a total of 103 hours and forty-five minutes.

My personal experience of watching the speed and sound of F-104 happened in the mid 60s when PAF provided an air display on Pakistan Day at Peshawar Air Base. Many of the jets were lined up on the airfield on a crisp cool morning. To demonstrate the high altitude intercept capability, an intruder B-57 was sent up first. After some other demonstrations it was announced that the intruder has been detected and two F-104 thundered near vertically off the run way. Soon after the contrails of the intruder and two much faster contrails of F-104s performing an intercept could be visibly seen by the awed spectators.

To give you a better feel for the performance of F-104s with PAF I have taken the liberty of attaching some extracts by

Wg Cdr Aftab Alam Khan, Pakistan Air Force (Retd)

Introduction

This is a personal account of the crucial role played by the dozen F-104 Starfighters of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the Indo-Pakistan War of September 1965. The Indian Air Force (IAF) had then approximately 900 aircraft against PAF’s total of only 150. To win the battle for air superiority against these odds was a daunting task. Losing air superiority would have meant that Pakistan would have had to face the full might of the IAF, the consequences of which would have been disastrous. It was therefore imperative, that the PAF won and kept control of the air.

Induction of the Starfighter in the PAF

Sqn Ldr Sadruddin and Flt Lt Middlecoat landed the first Starfighters at PAF Base Sargodha in 1962. In the following months, Pakistan inducted a total of 10 F-104A and two dual seat F-104B training aircraft in No 9 Squadron. These were USAF F-104C aircraft refurbished and updated with the latest J-79-11A engine, and upward ejection seats. Equipped with the M-61 Vulcan six barrel gun, the AIM-9B Sidewinder missile and the AN/ASG-14T1 fire control system, the aircraft was designed for high altitude (above 5000 feet), day /night interception/combat. Pakistan was the first country in Asia to induct a Mach 2 aircraft into its airforce. While most countries in Europe were still flying subsonic aircraft and none in Asia had an aircraft of this class and technology, many in Pakistan and abroad were skeptical of the PAF’s ability to fly and maintain this advanced system. The PAF’s flying skills, technological prowess, and competence, were soon proven. The pilots and ground crew of No.9 Squadron, who had been handpicked from F-86 squadrons, became the envy of the PAF by gaining mastery of the aircraft. To be part of No.9 Squadron, the cream of the PAF, was a great honour and privilege. In 1964 I was lucky to be given this honor. Sqn Ldr Jamal A Khan, the Squadron Commander was a very dedicated officer who set and maintained high standards. Training and flying in this Squadron was hard work. Safety always came first.

The J-79-11A engine was sophisticated and complicated. It had inlet guide vanes in front of the engine, and a variable nozzle system in the rear. These were liable to fail, but the PAF maintenance crew had mastered the equipment. We only had one engine flame out, and the pilot Flt Lt Khalid managed to make a ‘dead stick’ landing. This was a difficult maneuver requiring precise judgement. The pattern was flown at 240kts and the landing flare started 300 ft above ground level, to make a touch down at 190 kt, on a 9000 feet long runway. Only one F-104 was lost during training -- a training air combat sortie -- in which Flt Lt Asghar ‘pitched up’, and went into a spin. He ejected safely at high speed, and received major bruises. The aircraft was replaced under the MAP program. Operational training was fun. Flying at Mach 2 was an incomparable experience. The thrill of coming under radar control, attacking F-86 formations, that were denied radar help, was a fighter pilot’s dream come true. The F-104 zoomed out of nowhere, and before the F-86 pilots could start their defensive maneuvers, the F-104 had completed its simulated missile launch and was breaking off.

Early in 1965, warlike activity started in the disputed territory of Indian held Kashmir. Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Nur Khan had taken command of the PAF, just before the war. These were the days when we would be briefed daily, ‘under no account should any IAF aircraft be pursued across the border, if an aircraft is shot down, the wreckage must fall within Pakistani territory’. This was done to ensure that India would not be provoked into escalating to an all out war. All the concentration was along the disputed territory of Kashmir. On 3rd September 1965 an IAF Gnat was flying over Pakistan, on its way to its home base. A lone F- 104 was vectored to intercept the aircraft. Closing in at supersonic speed, the F-104 crossed the Gnat. There was no chance of making a successful intercept. But the Gnat pilot, probably thinking that there were more aircraft in the area, promptly lowered his gears and landed at a disused Pakistani airfield below, and surrendered himself. At that time, few thought that there was any chance of a real war breaking out. Life went on as usual. The routine was that a daily morning Combat Air patrol (CAP) would be airborne well before dawn. The F-104 formation would climb to 30, 000 feet, patrol the area near Kashmir and land back one hour after sunrise.

The War

The balloon went up on the morning of 6th September 1965. I got airborne with my wingman on a CAP mission. We climbed out under radar control, and were directed to the border near Kashmir. I was informed that the IAF had crossed the Pakistani border and were attacking ground positions approximately 80nm south of us. This meant that India had actually decided to start an all out war. We were immediately vectored to the area, and were soon over the site where the Indian aircraft were attacking. While dawn was breaking at 15,000 feet, it was still dark down below. I asked for permission to descend to ground level, but was denied. The reason given was that radio contact would be lost. I, however, decided to descend and leaving my wingman at 15,000 feet, to act as radio relay, I dove down and headed towards some flashes. As I reached the area, I was surprised to see that I was flying head-on into a formation of four IAF Mystere IV aircraft that were attacking ground targets. I was shocked more than I was surprised, as I felt a wave of anger leap through me. I had to shoot down these aircraft. I jettisoned my external fuel tanks and started to engage the Mysteres, as they turned into me. Maneuvering started at tree top level. I kept my eyes ‘glued’ on the target. I could feel the strain, under high ‘G’s’, looking over the tail of the aircraft, keeping the enemy in sight, and skimming the trees at high speed. One mistake, and I would have hit the ground. If I had lost sight of the Mysteres, the fight would have been over. The F-104, with the afterburner blazing, at low altitude, was responding very well. I used the high speed take -off Flaps to improve the turning capability as required. The ‘Stick Shaker’ was a big help, in flying the aircraft to its limit. The Mysteres would have no problem keeping the F-104 in sight because of its afterburner. After some hectic maneuvering, I was positioned behind two aircraft, but the other two were still not visible. I then spotted them, further ahead. Joy leapt through me; I armed my weapons, and decided to shoot the first two with missiles and the next two with guns. I fully realized that a confidential order prohibited me from using the missiles below 10, 000 ft. However, I was sure the missiles could be used effectively at any height, provided the targets could be discriminated from background heat sources. A distinct increase in missile tone ensured this. I set the wingspan of the Mystere IV, and started to recall the missile-firing checklist. ‘Check Range’, ‘Check Tone’, ‘Check G’s’, ‘Squeeze the trigger and hold’. I aimed the missile at the nearest aircraft, and heard the loud pitched missile tone. The sight indicated that I was in range. With all other requisite firing conditions met, I squeezed the trigger, and kept it pressed. I waited, only to note that the missile had not fired. As I looked towards the left missile, I saw a big flash, and the missile leaving the aircraft. The missile had taken, as stipulated in the manual, approx. 8/10ths of a second to fire after the trigger had been pressed but in combat, this seemed like an eternity. The flash of the missile blinded me for a few seconds. The radar controller who was also monitoring the radio of the Mystere’s, immediately informed me that one Mystere had been shot down and that another had been damaged. I was then at once instructed to turn right and pick up visual contact with the other Mysteres, which were exiting. I turned as directed but could not see them.

On landing back, I was informed that the dog fight had taken place overhead the Rahwali Airfield where a low powered radar was located. The Mystere’s wreckage had fallen close by; the other three had gotten away. It gave me great satisfaction and amusement to think the effect that would be created on the IAF when the tale of the encounter with, ‘the F-104′ was narrated by the pilots who got away. To quote Hussaini, the PAF’s official aviation painter, ‘Apart from being the first encounter to start the war in earnest, the engagement was also significant in other respects. It marked a new era in dogfighting at very low altitude. It was also the first combat kill by any Mach 2 aircraft and the first missile kill for the Pakistan Air Force’. Moreover, it was also proven that the F-104 and the Sidewinder missile were an effective weapon system at low altitude.

India had launched a full-scale attack, and we were now at war. India had the advantage of the aggressor, but had failed to take advantage of the ‘first strike’. The PAF now had to counter attack. The Air Chief arrived on the base. As I saw him he looked confident, and very aggressive. He was a genius; his planning was only surpassed by his boldness in execution. He had to fight 900 Indian aircraft with his 150. What could he do? The odds were impossible. He immediately gave instructions to reconnoiter (recce) the forward IAF air bases of Halwara and Adampur with the F-104. The pilots returned to report that the airfields had a full compliment of aircraft. He then enquired how many aircraft were available for a ‘dusk attack’. He was told that only seven F-86’s were serviceable. He ordered four to attack the IAF Base of Adampur, and three to attack Halwara Air Base. The plan appeared absurd. Attacking an airfield with only four aircraft and three aircraft respectively, after a recce .The enemy would be waiting. The attack was sure to fail. Subordinate commanders tried to convince the Chief to withdraw the order. None of us could appreciate the reason behind his logic. Command is lonely, and it takes courage to stand by one’s convictions. The Chief stood firm. The ‘dusk attack’ was launched.

Of the seven PAF F-86 aircraft that took part in the ‘Dusk Strike’ two were shot down. The PAF kept attacking the IAF bases all night with B-57 bombers. The Air Chief hoped that the IAF would retaliate next morning, and attack the main PAF fighter base Sargodha that was 90 nm from the border. Radar was not effective at low altitude; therefore, the PAF had a string of Mobile Observer Units (MOU’s), that could plot and report low flying aircraft in Pakistani territory. Since the IAF attack was expected at low level, it would not be a surprise for the PAF. The only question now was, whether the IAF would take the bait, and attack Sargodha. Early next morning, on 7th September 1965, a large number of PAF F-104 and F-86 aircraft set up a Combat Air Patrol (CAP), over /near Sargodha, waiting for the enemy to attack. The F-104s were assigned the outer perimeter, while the F-86s were kept closer to the airfield. The Mobile Observer Units started to report the incoming intruders as they crossed the border and headed for Sargodha. The anti-aircraft guns opened fire as the first group of attacking aircraft came in. Surprisingly, these planes got through, without being intercepted. The next attack was picked up by Flt Lt Arif Iqbal in a F-104, and as he was about to fire, he suddenly saw an F- 86 flight appear between him and the enemy, and shoot down the Mystere. The attacks then came wave after wave, each one being intercepted, mostly by F-86’s, because they were positioned closer to the airfield. Flt Lt Amjad, in a F-104, shot down a Mystere, only to fly into the debris of the exploding aircraft. He ejected safely. By noon all attacks had ceased. The ‘Battle for Sargodha’ had been won. Never again in this war did the IAF venture to attack Sargodha in daytime. AVM Nur Khan had scored; the genius and courage of his plan had worked, his main air defence assets were safe.

The pilots of No.9 Squadron competed fiercely, to undertake as many combat missions as they could. Never missing a chance to close with the enemy, hungry for combat. In the days that followed, the F-104 pilots noted that whenever they got airborne, the IAF grounded all its aircraft. This made it very difficult for the F-104 pilots to engage the enemy during daytime hours. Flt Lt Mushtaq, my brother, flying a F-104 in the same Squadron, made contact with the enemy, only to note that as he approached the target, the IAF Hunters disengaged well in time. Flt Lt ‘Micky’ Abbas in an F-104 had a similar episode. This experience would be repeated for the F-104 pilots for all daytime interceptions. I personally patrolled in a lone F-104, at 30,000ft, deep inside Indian territory, over the two Indian fighter airfields of Adampur and Halwara for one hour, and there was no response from the Indian side, no IAF fighter aircraft were scrambled to engage the intruder leisurely loitering over Indian airbases. This was total air superiority, and it displayed the complete and utter supremacy the Starfighter enjoyed over the IAF.

At medium and high altitudes the F-104 ruled the sky. The IAF refused to challenge the Starfighter, keeping at a safe arm’s length distance from challenging it. But below 5000ft, a fierce battle raged between the F-86 and the IAF fighters, mainly the Hunters and Gnats. The F-86 was the workhorse of the PAF, it was under-powered, outnumbered, and out-gunned. Nevertheless, the F-86 pilots showed great courage as they fearlessly engaged their opponents, and displayed an unusual skill for air combat, achieving an excellent kill ratio. The F-104 by controlling the sky at medium and high altitude, had reduced the workload for the F-86 ’s to the extent that the disparity in numbers was manageable. The F-86’s could now hold their own against the enemy at low altitude. The F-104/F-86 team had won the battle for the air. The PAF had fully established air superiority. The job had been done; numbers did not matter now. The will of the enemy to fight the F-104 had been broken. It was a tremendous contribution by the F-104 in the war effort. The Starfighter reigned supreme. It had played a pivotal role in the defense of Pakistan, and the battle for air supremacy by the PAF.

Tribute to the Starfighter

Pakistan got the better of the IAF, with odds of 1:6 or 150:900, and the PAF maintained Air Superiority, day and night. The genius and courage of Air Marshal Nur Khan and the F-104/F-86 team had made this possible. Undoubtedly, the F-86 was the workhorse, but the F-104 had a very special task. The PAFpilot/F-104 team had created a situation where the IAF pilots did not have the will to fight the F-104. When the F-104 was ‘UP’, the Indian Air Force was ‘Down on the Ground’. This removed a major portion of the threat. The Starfighter and its pilots had contributed immensely to achieve this victory. The pilots by flying and engaging enemy aircraft very aggressively, never losing any opportunity to engage the enemy, by day or by night. Working long hours, and flying under difficult flight conditions. The maintenance crew and the F-104 deserve a special accolade, ‘not one technical abort, or snag affected a mission’. The F-104 was flown by determined pilots, maintained by efficient crew and supported by dedicated radar controllers. This made a tremendous team, that helped win the battle for air superiority for the PAF. The F-104 Starfighter was in a class of its own-’Superlative’, to say the least. Without the dozen Starfighters the outcome of the war might not have been so good. ‘It definitely was a pleasure, a great thrill, and the ultimate experience to fly the F-104 in Combat’.

The Engine is the Core Competence

The point of this longish post is the elucidate the importance of the core competency achieved by this amazing engine.  A dozen fighters equipped with this engine were able to dominate a much larger air force. While it is true that PAF pilots effectively mastered the art of flying a difficult plane and used it to its full potential, it can be argued that had IAF had this plane, they could equally well have had an upper hand.  Kelly Johnson was able to wrap a plane around this engine to create a master piece, that could even today give any fighter a run for the money with the right avionics and weapons upgrades at medium and high altitudes. But this engine proved equally effective in Phantom, a plane not designed by Kelly.

This lesson has been effectively applied by countries like Finland, Israel and Brazil. Finland has a disproportionate market share of cell phone market. Similarly Israel focused their investments in unmanned aircraft vehicles and are now reaping the benefits in this market of the future. Brazil competes on equal footing with US and European countries in the sales of business jets.

Developing countries like Pakistan should focus on core technologies of the future so that they too can compete with the best and reap the benefits.

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Little did I know when I first posted this that there would be a number of drone strikes and suicide explosions immediately after wards. I know of no nation in the world that willfully allows another nation to attack and kill its citizens, specially when it has the resources to stop it. The current civil and military leadership of Pakistan needs to be held accountable for allowing Pakistani citizens to be killed, on a nearly daily basis, by its people. I had recorded  a talk show on US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan in April 2009. It discussed the anticipated change in the US policy brought about by the new Obama administration.  

The talk was triggered by a blog by Adil Najam on Pakistaniat. I am vociferously against the use of drones as weapons, for reasons too many to enumerate here.   As it turned out 2009 was by far the worst year for Pakistanis killed by US drones as well as their human equivalent, the suicide bombers. According to Human Security Project Report the number of Pakistanis killed by drones in 2009 alone is SEVEN HUNDRED. I had the opportunity to meet Imran Khan ( the cricketer/politican)  in my recent visit to Pakistan who informed me that 20,000 people have been killed by drone attacks. If these numbers are true, then US is committing a “My Lai every Month” in Pakistan. The only difference is that there are no photographers on the ground to capture the decimated bodies left behind after a hellfire missile explosion.  Unlike My Lai, there are no US service men with the conscience to bring the perpetrator of these crimes to the public notice. I am not sure what the real numbers are; most probably between the two figures. But this is an extraordinary large number of civilians to kill over a very large area with no accountability and no declaration of war. The fact of the matter is that there are no independant journalists allowed in the region. So anyone can come up with figures that are impossible to corroborate. These reports don’t mention people being injured and maimed in an area with little to no medical facilities.  The very fact that you have drones flying over you 24/7 creates a persistant psychological trauma for the people and children of the region.  This is essentially a collective punishment being inflicted on the people of Pakistan.

The unfortunate things is that the change in US policy have mostly been for the worst  since then. The only real shift has been by Pakistan Army in launching operations in South Waziristan. The video is self explanatory, hence this short blog.

One of the nice things in US is that the cable providers are forced to airing local programs created by the citizens of the town that they serve. This allows for the creation of grass root programming which neither the corporations not the government can control. Political Chowder and Policy Watch are two such programs that allowed such heretic ideas presented here to be aired in a number of affiliated public channels across the US. It is people like Joe Briggs who are the unsung heroes for saying what is the right thing, in a nation otherwise kept in the dark by the corporate run media.

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Myra is a student at Brandeis University studying International Global Studies and Global Economics

“Whosoever kills an innocent human being, it shall be as if he has killed all mankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.”
(Quran 5:32)

“Seek peace, and pursue it.”
(Bible Psalms 34:14)

“Do naught to others which if done to thee would cause thee pain.”
(Hindu Mahabharata 5.1517)

“I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life”
(Five Mindfulness Trainings of Buddhism)

“You shall not murder.”
(God’s Revelation in the Jewish Old Testament)

13 people killed, 29 wounded at Fort Hood Texas. Who could have expected that? How sad and heartbreaking.
Terrorism is such a global issue — victims everywhere and from every religion. Yes, NO religion teaches what the terrorists are doing. Terrorists could not and do not have a religion. If we really want to defeat theses terrorists it is very important to understand and remember that they represent no religion at all. It is the terrorists who want us to believe otherwise because that is what really helps them in their own motives and agendas. Once we understand and grasp this important fact we will realize how outnumbered these terrorists actually are.
It is not the time for pointing fingers and causing divisions to help the terrorists. The solution to this problem could not be without a fully collaborated global effort from peace loving people of all religions and nations. This is the time to come together and eradicate this menace. Together we can do it.

Can we afford not to? Can we, can you afford to just sit on the side? Can we afford to stay silent? What do you say?

Let us not be silent, Let us make the world a better place! Your opinion matters immensely. Make your voice heard.

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