Oct
13
The Last Stand – Air War 1971 (Part 2 of 2)
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Air Cdre Kaiser Tufail (Retd)
This is the second part of the post. It is from one of the chapters of the upcoming book “Air War-1971”
Oct
13
The Last Stand – Air War 1971 (Part 1 of 2)
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Air Cdre Kaiser Tufail (Retd)
Looking at the grotesque disparity between the Air Forces arrayed against each other in the Eastern wing – one PAF combat squadron versus twelve of IAF – one cannot but agree that the idea of ‘defence of East lies in the West’ reflected a realistic appraisal of the grim situation by the Pakistani military strategists. With the PAF’s air element not expected to last beyond a day or two at best, and the outnumbered Pak Army hopelessly encircled by the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini, strategic compulsions demanded that a front be opened in the West at the earliest to capture Indian territory and redeem some lost honour. Occupation of Indian territory was no less important from the point of view of bargaining the release of POWs that were bound to be captured in East Pakistan, en masse. Sadly however, this line of thinking meant that the Pakistani forces in the East were sacrificial lambs and, would have to submit to the inevitable sooner or later. The only challenge for the unfortunate soldiers, sailors and airmen was to delay the impending disaster as much as they could, in the dim hope of some miracle occurring on the geo-political front at the eleventh hour. If ever there was a pathetic and despondent situation at the outset of a modern day conflict, the one faced by Pakistani armed forces in East Pakistan was beyond compare. Read more
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23
Fortieth Anniversary of the Graduation of the CCHA Fourteenth Entry
Filed Under education, Pakistan | 2 Comments
CCHA Class of 1972
This year marks the fortieth anniversary for the class of ’72 at Cadet College Hasan Abdal. Also known as the Fourteenth Entry at CCHA. It is a good time to reflect upon the journeys each one of us undertook and to cherish our achievements. This post is dedicated to the all our teachers and support staff who made us into what we are.
Jul
3
Imran Khan, Pakistan and the Rest of the World
Filed Under Pakistan, Peace, United States, World | 8 Comments
Imran H. Khan
We are told that Imran Khan stands a good chance of becoming the next Prime Minister of Pakistan, whenever the elections are next held. Many question whether he has the necessary organization and money in place to make a realistic run for it. He was planning to make a fund raising trip to the US to raise the much needed funds for conducting an effective electoral campaign, but the trip was canceled/postponed at the last minute due to rapidly changing political situation with the expulsion of ex PM Gilani. Until recently I was a luke warm supporter of Imran because of his sometimes not well thought out statements. Recent rapid changes in the socio-political landscape in Pakistan has confirmed the worst case scenarios for all the other political entities as being inimical to the health of Pakistan and Pakistanis. PPP has earned its wings as the Pakistan’s Plundering Party, Sharif’s have no concept of conflict of interest or respect for law, MQM is essentially a fascist party and different garden varieties of “Islamic” parties are anything but, and closet sympathizers of criminals and power grabbers under the guise of jihad. With all his public and private short comings, Imran Khan has been left the last man standing. His understanding of world affairs is better than all the heads of the other parties combined. His views on Islam are not Arabized and has a healthy dose of patriotism. Read more
May
9
Horses of Assateague Island by Rob Franco
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Imran H. Khan
Rob discovered the Assateague Island while on his many trips to the Philadelphia area. Being naturally gifted in painting animals and birds, this sanctuary provided him an ideal set of subjects for his paintings. He was particularly attracted to the wild horses that are found there. I have presented some of his paintings here.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
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11
Islamic Art at Metropolitan Museum NY
Filed Under Art, India, Pakistan, religion, United States | 2 Comments
Imran Khan
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.
Dec
25
Affordable Building Technology
Filed Under Security, Technology | 1 Comment
Javed Sultan
Fig. 1
The need for affordable building technologies is obvious to most of us who come from countries that are poor and are often victims of natural calamities. Housing for the poor receives only limited funding and takes a backseat to other economic priorities. What the poor often do not realize is that there are no affordable technologies that can meet their need. The only way to meet their housing needs is to be an active part of the building process. Read more
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24
OPEN Karachi: Open’s First Chapter outside the US
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Imran Khan
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. Read more
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23
Amy WineHouse:RIP
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Imran H. Khan
I heard the real sad news of Amy’s death. I really liked her songs that tended to be raw and touched the soul. Like Jim Morrison of Doors who I also liked died of drug related complications.
Jul
2
The Start of A.R.T. Inquilaab in Pakistan -Iftitah-e-Inquilaab
Filed Under Art, education, Entertainment, Entrepreneurism, Pakistan, Peace | 2 Comments
Salman Ahmad
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. Read more
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