Aug
11
Modi’s Kashmir
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Imran Khan
In a masterful piece of real politik act, Modi’s government has presented the Kashmiri’s with the honor of being treated as a full members of the Indian Union. For the last seventy years they had been treated as people that had unequal rights among billion other that did not. This got into their heads and they started thinking that they could have their own country, rather than joining either India or Pakistan as the rest of the pre-partition Indian sub continent states had to. As the curtain of restriction lifts in Kashmir, the people there will realize the reality of power that a modern states exude. This fact can be seen in the rapidly falling in step of countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives, BanglaDesh etc.. The way India managed to use its influence with the US and time it with her influence over Pakistan to keep it from doing anything that might jeopardize the smooth execution is worthy of appreciation. What happens next is anybody’s guess, but the chances are that Kashmir will be known as Modi’s Kashmir for a long time to come.
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Sep
18
The Perfect Hajj : 2018 AD , 1439 AH
Filed Under Peace, religion, World | 2 Comments
Imran Khan, Nadeem Akram(photographer)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is obligatory to be performed once in the lifetime of an adult Muslim as long as they are physically and financially capable. In reality only a fraction of the world’s Muslims can participate in this holy pilgrimage to Allah’s house in Makkah. Those who are incredibly blessed to actually perform it can only do so if God sends you the personal invite. There are not many things in life that one does only once in a lifetime as a matter of choice. We had been meaning to perform Hajj for many years, but for one reason or another it did not happen till this year. The invite takes many forms including easing of financial responsibilities of taking care of kids educations, seeing that the parents have been adequately take care off etc..
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7
Tribute to Pakistani Women
Filed Under Pakistan | Comments Off on Tribute to Pakistani Women
Imran H. Khan
I was recently reflecting on the lack of knowledge by most people including Pakistanis realize the diversity of Pakistanis in general and women in particular. This diversity is the result of the historical depth of Pakistani culture as well as the unique geographical cross roads that it is located. Even though it is only slightly bigger than the state of Texas, the features can vary from African to South Asian to European to Chinese and Central Asian. The mixing of ethnicities creates unique blends of intermediate characteristics and traits.
Jan
19
Lessons from F-86 Sabre, Part II
Filed Under PAF, Pakistan, Technology, United States | Comments Off on Lessons from F-86 Sabre, Part II
Imran H. Khan
In order to get a much deeper understanding of the capabilities of F-86, I had a unique opportunity to have a candid discussion about its performance in actual air combat with a Pakistan Air Force officer, then Flt. Lt Yousaf Ali Khan. He shared his experience in the F-86 in the video below. His praise of F-86 is specially noteworthy as he can objectively compare it with other contemporary fighters like the Hunter and Mig-21 which he also flew. Besides his insights into the noteworthy aspects of the F-86, his story is a compelling one from a number of different aspects. While the video was made in very informal circumstances, I thought that it worthwhile sharing it as it was a unique opportunity to capture some very important historical events that shaped the 1965 war of the Indian sub continent.
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17
Lessons from F-86 Sabre, Part I
Filed Under India, PAF, Pakistan, Technology, United States | Comments Off on Lessons from F-86 Sabre, Part I
Imran H. Khan
Some stories take a lifetime to develop. Sometimes an incredibly capable concoction of aluminium, rubber and electronics ends up reminding you of its significance from time to time all during ones life. One such very exquisite piece of technology is the F-86 Sabre. Most recently I came across it standing in the National Museum of USAF in Dayton Ohio. It belonged to Bruce Hinton who became the first US pilot to shoot down a Mig-15 in the Korean war. My earliest childhood memory in Mauripur PAF base, Karachi are filled with the sights and sounds of this new aircraft that would shake the windows of our house, as the pilots were flying them low like the propeller driven planes that they had been used to. One of my fondest memory is of my father taking me to the F-86 that he had just ferried from the US. He had hidden an inordinate number of toys in all possible compartments that he opened one after the other to my unending joy. It was quite a heady times for a newly formed nation with such state of the art planes. I can only imagine what a high it would have been for my father from being a refugee ,with the only belonging being the clothes on his body a few years earlier after partition, to being able to fly these shiny airborne chariots. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) ended up acquiring 240 Sabres that stayed in service from 1956 to 1979.
Sep
21
Imran H Khan
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
As part of Pakistani Diaspora we get a stroboscopic view of Pakistan which is quite different than of those living in the country. Generally these visits are full of very beautiful experiences of meeting family and friends and getting a chance to sample the culture at that instance. My recent week long visit was farthest from the typical, as the country is undergoing what can best be described as the “defining moment”. I am just going to present you with the facts and will leave it to you to connect the dots.
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7
Reconstructing CCHA
Filed Under education, Pakistan | Comments Off on Reconstructing CCHA
Imran H. Khan
During my recent visit to CCHA after forty two years, I had the opportunity to see the improvements as well as the remaining work. The new principal’s dynamic persona coupled with the alum network has afforded a unique opportunity to recover from years of neglect. It appears that the number of cadet colleges have increased from a handful to over eighty. As a result the provincial government’s ability to fund CCHA has diminished considerably. The funds from the government do not even cover the salaries. The previous principals were hesitant to spend some limited development funds due to concerns of corruption in invoicing etc..
Apr
21
Jadoo 3 IpTV
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Imran H. Khan
Jadoo 3 is the third generation Jadoo Tv that offers a number of new features and a whole new audio visual experience. The primary reason is the support for the different high definition TV modes and content to go with. This is further enhanced by a substantially improved user interface.
Mar
18
Solo over Norwood Ma
Filed Under Technology | 6 Comments
Imran H. Khan
Today on a sunny but windy winter morning, I took off runway 35 on Norwood Memorial Airport with my instructor Kevin Baird in a Warrior III tail number 244ND on a pre-solo check ride. I had a little over eight hours of flying under my wings and was convinced that I was far from ready to do anything as reckless as a solo. But my new instructor liked my flying enough to consider my soloing today. Even though it was crisp and sunny, the winds were picking up. I had been flying two other Warriors in my previous flights, but found this plane to be handling a little bit better. My first touch and go went surprisingly smoothly even though there was considerable turbulence on the approach created by a combination of marshes and highways just prior to the touch down. I am not sure whether it was the stress of flying or that it was getting really hot, I was beginning to really heat up as I had forgotten to take the jacket off. The instructor had to take over the controls and I struggled in the tight cockpit and took it off.
Jan
19
It’s Not About the Gun…
Filed Under Afghanistan, Pakistan, Peace, United States, US Policy | 4 Comments
Imran Khan
“In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful”
There are certain events in the destiny of a nation which turn out to be a defining moments. I believe the massacre at Newtown Ct. is one of them. It is a defining moment not only because of the ghastly nature of the crime but also its causes. The current narrative starting from the President downwards is that the widespread availability of the guns is to be blamed. On the other end of the spectrum the NRA is making the strange proposal of making every school teacher be armed. Under normal circumstances it would have been darkly amusing. Sure guns have something to do with it, but they are manifestation of the root cause. Lance Armstrong’s inspirational book titled ‘It’s Not About the Bike’ looks beyond what is obvious and takes the reader deeper into what really matters. What happened in Newtown can happen in any town in the USA, because the environment has been primed by the policies formed by the US government at the end of the Vietnam war. The image of children running away in the My Lai massacre changed the opinion of Americans against the Vietnam war. It eroded the blind trust that Americans had put in their governments and things have never been quite the same. The bitter lesson learned by the policy makers from this experience was to end the draft and not to allow journalists into the battlefield or document the returning body bags. This freed them from having to send their kids to the battlefields and to control the narrative of the events for American consumption. Anyone who stood in the way was either dehumanized or branded as unpatriotic. The net result has been the steady growth of callouses of lack of empathy and compassion in the collective and individual behaviors.
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