Even after over sixty-five years of living together under the tag of a nation we do not miss a single chance when we can fight with each other and point fingers on those who share the same tag but different opinion. The recent elections have been a new example of this attitude. Even months before the elections, the divide and the rift over the political differences came in and just like fatwas on someone’s religious affiliations; we saw one side declaring other enemy of the country and in return getting same title from the other side.

Elections have ended we have the results but even after unknowingly doing a massive favor of this country we are fighting over the results. Reservations, difference of opinion, grief, and celebration on the result are a natural factors and a democratic right of all the voters and supports too. However, like many other things, perhaps under the influence of our national habit, we cross limit in this regard too. Neither we regarded the sentiments of the others before the elections nor we are doing it now.

The election was rigged and was not as free and fair as expected then a reality check is that we are living in a country not a paradise where everything is perfect. Before looking at the factors like rigging and forgery in the elections, we must address the issues and factors that we can easily see if we can dare to peek in our own collar. The dishonesty we show in nearly all the aspects of our life is world famous and then we demand everything free and fair without correcting ourselves.

As I said, the elections and showing around or over 60% turnout in it was a favour that we unknowingly, perhaps, gave to the country. A country under the regular threats of terrorism activities, we are also home of a certain kind of mindset, under the name of Islam, that declares casting vote as un-Islamic and sin. In that country, 60% of the population eligible to vote came out and used their right and declared that the credence of change via ballet not bullet is still alive.

We are an impatient and twitchy nation (if we are nation at all) and we want everything to get fixed as quickly as snap of fingers or blink of an eye. That is the reason we have cherish incredible romance and anecdote with the things like revolution (fact remains we don’t even know what does that mean) and long solid boots.

Change is a gradual process and it certainly starts within. Looking at the results of the elections the positive thing is that there is glimpse of the continuity of that gradual process. In fact, we have gone one-step ahead. With the power of vote, we have rejected many of those who did not perform well last time and we gave chance to many new players now. As a nation, we have also given message that now we are aware enough to make a little wiser decisions when needed so if you fail to deliver this time next time do not even bother to show your face next time.

We have a new political party who emerged as the second most eminent political party in the country who had not a single representative in the previous parliament. We are going to have a strong government in the centre that probably will be free from the blackmailing of collision partners. Moreover, the political parties in the government are under the constant pressure of fulfilling the hopes attached to them and dreams they sold during campaign. The dynamics of national and “pan-Punjab” party has shifted. Interestingly the majority of the voters have given votes to the political candidates this time not Grave, Mazloom (victim) or Bechara (oppressed poor).

It is time for us to show a bit more maturity and grace to address the issues and reservations like the words maturity and grace demand. Rather than ranting and awarding labels to the others, it is time to sit down and develop a consensus. We already are in a difficult and complex state we certainly cannot afford more episodes of abhorrence and assertion. All we need is to thinking above the political affiliation and take step for a better Pakistan no matter if that better Pakistan is named as Naya or Roshan. After all better and developed Pakistan is the goal all political parties advertised to clutch votes.

Having said that, I hope and expect the election commission should take notice of the issues and address them as soon as possible. Moreover, on this issue I expect the same maturity and grace from the leadership of all the political parties that I expect from the voters and supporters.

Pakistan’s Kamila Shamsie amongst the best novelists in Britain

Few days ago the Granta magazine issued the list of under 40 years old  Britain’s 20 best novelists. Kamila Shamsie of Pakistan managed to bag a spot in the list for her novel Burnt Shadows. The list is dominated by the women novelists as 12 out of 20 are women. The list also features authors of Bangladeshi, Chinese, and Nigerian origin.

The list, which is issued after every ten years, first time this list was issued in 1983 that makes the current list fourth addition.  It is the same list that in past carried names like Martin Amis, Alan Hollinghurst, and Jeanette Winterson.. The announcement escorts the publication of Granta 123: the Best of Young British Novelists 4. The edition features stories from each of the 20 novelists form the latest list. Granta and the British Council are also planning to  take these authors on the road for readings and talks in 10 countries.

The judges for this list were John Freeman, Ellah Allfrey, Romesh Gunesekera, Stuart Kelly, A. L. Kennedy, Sigrid Rausing, and Gaby Wood, who finalized the list after considering more than 150 authors and their works. According to the rules candidates were required to be under the age of 40 and must be U.K. on April 15, 2013. However, Kamila Shamsie was given special consideration by the judging panel and not excluded for technically not being a U.K. citizen because she is in the process of acquiring British citizenship.

Granta magazine was founded in 1889 by by Cambridge University students. It is named after the river that runs through Cambridge town. This magazine was the first to publish the works of authors like Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath who later became literary superstars. In 2010, Granta published a special edition celebrating writing from Pakistan.

Granta  website says the magazine

“does not have a political or literary manifesto, but it does have a belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and nonfiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real.”

The Best of Young British Novelists 2013:

Naomi Alderman (born 1974), The Liars’ Gospel
Tahmima Anam (1975), author of the Bengal Trilogy
Ned Beauman (1985), The Teleportation Accident
Jenni Fagan (1977), The Panopticon
Adam Foulds (1974), The Quickening Maze
Xiaolu Guo (1973), A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers
Sarah Hall (1974), How to Paint a Dead Man
Steven Hall (1975), The Raw Shark Texts
Joanna Kavenna (1973), Come to the Edge
Benjamin Markovits (1973), author of a trilogy on the life of Lord Byron
Nadifa Mohamed (1981), Black Mamba Boy
Helen Oyeyemi (1984), White is for Witching
Ross Raisin (1979), God’s Own Country
Sunjeev Sahota (1981), The Year of the Runaways
Taiye Selasi (1979), Ghana Must Go
Kamila Shamsie (1973), Burnt Shadows
Zadie Smith (1975), NW (She also made the 2003 list.)
David Szalay (1974), The Innocent
Adam Thirlwell (1974), Kapow!
Evie Wyld (1980), All the Birds, Singing

In a country where social media is flourishing, will these campaigns translate to votes? from Rai M Azlan Shahid on Vimeo.

I Was asked to make a video to comment on the topic of discussion at The Stream of Al jazeera English. however for some reason could not post it to them on time so it is here.
question was:

May 11 will mark the first ever transition from one elected civilian government to another in Pakistan. How will the outcome be influenced by the youth turnout? In a country where social media is flourishing, will these campaigns translate to votes? Send us your thoughts for Wednesday’s show.

Politics and political activism is on its peak because it is the season of elections in Pakistan. Media no matter social or mainstream trying to cover as much as they can and get as much as they can out of it. About two weeks ago, Access Point with Ayesha Tanzeem a show runs at Voice of America covered the importance of manifesto of political parties. In order to engage the wider audience and utilizing the voice available at social media they asked a question on facebook that I commented on. Somehow, that comment featured at the show the question and comment goes like this (and I still maintain what I said)

How much attention do you pay to a political party’s manifesto? 

The manifesto is the reference point that can and should use to compare the political options available for the general elections.
However, in past those who successfully won the elections forgot the manifesto with equally convincing success. Therefore, the trust on it is shaken. Having said that in Pakistan still there many voters who can’t even read or write it can be an indicator that to what extent manifesto attains importance among masses.

The whole show video can be seen here

And there was another question but it did not make to the show:

How should a political party be held accountable if it does not fulfil the promises outlined in its manifesto? 

Well in a functional democracy public gets such chance only after 4-5 years when for another time they are out there for the votes.
However, standing committee on various aspects can be an idea to keep reminding them their motto.

1) Send your CNIC number (no dashes, no spaces) via SMS to 8300 and wait for a message from ECP

2) Note down ‘BLOCK CODE’ from the SMS

3) Download ‘Draft Polling Scheme’ for your province from this link:http://ecp.gov.pk/PollingScheme.aspx

4) The downloaded Excel File contains your city data. Open it & find the BLOCK CODE.

5) This is your polling station

6) The SMS will also contain your Serial Number in the voter list use this to find your name at the polling station

7) Check the  Election Map  for more details

The hall was packed with attendees, and the theoretical physics at Imperial College was proud of one of its greatest achievers and the last Nobel Prize winner in physics at Imperial. It is widely known that Dr. Salam is the only Nobel Laureate Pakistan had has. The credit for this ‘knowledge’ goes to the few lines about Salam in the physics textbook taught to us at matriculation level (GCSE) in Pakistan.

Demonstration: “What is Higgs Bosan?”

There are many unsung heroes if we look in the context of Pakistan, and there are few who get acknowledgement yet still they remain forgotten. The reason perhaps is the lack of habit to give due recognition to all those who deserve. It is because we have irrelevant yardsticks to measure and judge credentials of others.

In those three hours, I learned a lot more about Dr. Salam, especially his work in unchallengeable contribution to theoretical physics. It was far more than I knew in countless hours of my past and conscious life.

Office Of Dr. Salam at Imperial College London

Note worthy speakers were Dr Salam’s student, Michael Duff, colleague Tom Kibble (nominee for Nobel prize in Physics 2013), and Prof Chris Hull, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Salam’s son Ahmed Salam and brother Addul Rasheed. Former Press Attache, Syeda Sultana and High Commissioner for Pakistan also spoke on the occasion. Prof. Michael Duff now holds the Abdus Salam Chair. He talked about Salam at Imperial. Chris Hull – Professor of theoretical physics highlighted the works of Salam that won him the Nobel Prize. Sir Tom kibble explained his and Salam’s contribution to Higgs Boson. That very contribution has resurfaced Salam’s name from last year’s discovery by Peter Higgs.

The Nobel Prize Medal of Dr. Salam

The event and talks were too scientific for me to understand and grasp them properly. After listening to Prof. Tom Kibble’s talk about the significance of Higgs Boson made me realise that if I did not disconnect myself with physics and science for past one decade I could have absorbed more out of it. In addition, realising that many around me were making notes during the talk pushed such feelings with more strength. However, the demonstration by a PhD Student at Imperial College Saba Manzoor ul haq, who was also the organizer of the event, helped me to understand the concept. Saba explained it in lay man terms to the audience using sugar, ping-ping balls and trays – what a “Higgs boson” is and how do you look for it and why is it important.

Mr. Ahmed Salam (son of Dr. Salam) and Mr. Abdul Rashid shared some personal insights of his life. The surprise of the evening was the chance to take a close look at and touch the Nobel Prize Medal that belongs to Pakistan because of Dr. Salam. Holding that medallion for hardly a minute infiltrated a pride in me and since then I am thinking what would be the feeling of owning it in reality.

Me holding the Nobel Prize Medal and feeling the pride.

Saba Manzoor ul haq, who was the organizer of the event did great job at creating awareness about Dr. Salam’s work. It was tribute to Salam’s life and work .However, I feel that the awareness about achievers like Dr. Salam must continue to spread in the country that he originally belongs. But before that we probably need another awareness that how to digest different ideas and how to give credit to the good work done for the country irrespective of his cast, colour, ethnicity, political affiliation, and religious beliefs. Like Salam himself believed that knowledge is a shared heritage of all mankind. However, to see that day we probably need to wait a few more years as we are miles away from the required tolerance.

Attaullah Esakhelvi added music to the evening with his famous tunes, and thank God he left after his performance. As the substance rolled out after him in the name of music was insolence to the word music itself. And an artist like Mr. Esakhelvi could not assimilate that.

On the Saturday morning, the official committee sessions began in the different colleges and halls spread in the city. There were various committees to discuss issue like, education, health, finance, environment, legal affair, interior affairs, and foreign affairs. I was part of Interior Affairs Committee and when I reached St. Peters College where our committee was sitting I was an hour late but we Pakistanis kept our USP alive, as the session was not started by then. There were so many participants interested in the committee that we had to borrow chairs from the other room to facilitate all the participants.

The topic of discussion for interior affairs committee were election 2013, sectarian violence, issue of Baluchistan, FATA, and PATA. Interestingly the session started with none of them as a certain section of the committee was interested to discuss the ‘system’ first. That was a debate kept going round and round without reaching any solution or conclusion, and that certain section had only one solution for every issue the word starts with a “K” and ends with a “T”.

During the conference, I was away from the TV and Pakistani political talk shows but I did not miss its flavor. The reason was the art of discussion we have developed, we discuss the issues by thumping others’ opinion, debate is nothing more than verbal combat. I lived some live examples of such debates where a tiny aspect became the reason of long endless and aimless ‘debate’.

This year Imran Khan and Aitzaz Ahsan were the keynote speakers. On Saturday evening, Oxford Union Debate Chamber was completely packed to listen to Imran Khan’s Speech on “Leadership“. The speech carried many points that he has used many times in the past, so was the case with the question asked in the Q&A session. However, presence of his two sons in the hall was a surprise and new thing for a semi-political gathering. The same event was used for the launch of PKI (Pakistan Knowledge initiative) a brain child of Oxford based PHD candidate Adnan Rafiq to have a practical role in the progress of Pakistan other than the debates and organizing the PFLC every year (I Will write about PKI in detail later).

The Sunday afternoon chamber hall was giving a completely different picture, half of the hall was empty during Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan’s keynote speech. Where the audience was bit kind towards Mr. Khan while asking question, the attitude towards Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan was rather harsh and cold. His credentials and contributions were judged on the scale of his political affiliation.

This was my third year to such conference but this year Oxford University Pakistan Society successfully arranged a platform of debate and they done good job at their end. However, I am not impressed this time as the element of quality in debate and argument was missing. It was more of a showdown of different agendas of different participants. Like our television talk shows and daily life, the aspect of tolerance and agreement to disagree was missing there too. The motto of conference was “Unity In Diversity” but we are so much obsessed with our own and sacred diversity that we like to remain ‘individuals’. During the time when hope in future is getting slimmer with everyday and hurling me to cynicism this experience was another push. The illusionistic self-esteem, shallow pride, and state of denial are the few hurdles that we collectively have to cross. Alternatively, the concept of unity will limit its presence in the form of words only.

If I have to summaries my well spent weekend in few words I will say that our sense of preferences is going through a very bad stage (as always). We need to fix it before it is too late, difference of opinion is a good thing but the motive should be constructive and in line to seek unity. We are rather keen towards putting forward our views without listening to others with aim of making opponent bite the dust.

PTV Live – Shehki sings “ParishaN ho ke Meri khaak aakhir dil na ban jaye” from Rai M Azlan Shahid on Vimeo.

translation

1
If my scattered dust turns into a heart again,
It may pulsate again with the passions of the past.
2
sometimes ignored destination starts proving its importance
i am afraid that the Repentance of that loss may not turn into sorrow of destination
3
Love has made me an ocean, boundless, fathomless,
But my self—awareness may change me into a shore.
4
In the world beyond, I fear lest my quest
May turn into a futile chase, a chase without an end.

Mans rise has awakened jealous fear in the angels,
Lest this eclipsed star should one day become a full moon.

Some Famous publications have such good words for him;

“In him, the country has an unsung ambassador who has literally galloped across the globe with the Pakistan flag” – Express Tribune

“Despite his success, he remains very much an unsung hero…I think what we need is a few more Hissams.” – Polo Times, April 2011 issue

This is first time that Hissam Hyder will be participating in the Northern India Polo Championship. He will continue his polo tour of India by participating in the Maharaja Jiwaji Rao Scindia Gold Cup, which commences on 19 February 2013.

Daily Times Reported

Hissam to take part in Northern India Polo Championship

LAHORE: Hissam Hyder, Pakistan’s leading polo player, will be participating in the Northern India Polo Championship in New Delhi, India from February 11 to 17. The 20-goal tournament is among the most prestigious fixtures of the sub-continent polo circuit and features up to 6 teams with international polo talent. Hissam, the only player from Pakistan to feature in the tournament, will be playing for ‘Team Elevation’ alongside Satinder Garcha (2 handicap) and Druv Pal Godara (4 handicap) from India and Ignacio Tocolino (8 handicap) from Argentina. The Northern India Polo Championship employs a league based format with a duration of 6 chukkers per match.

Speaking about his team’s prospects at the NIP Championship, Hissam said; “The Northern India Polo Championship features high goal teams with seasoned polo professionals and well-maintained horses. I look forward to representing Pakistan as a player alongside other high goal players from South Africa, England and Argentina.”

With a handicap of 6 goals, Hissam is presently ranked among top 50 world polo players. Hissam has been named as the most valuable player in Pakistan on 6 different occasions. Internationally he has participated in top, high goal tournaments. This is first time that Hissam will be participating in the Northern India Polo Championship. pr

The Real Face of Jesus From the Shroud of Turin from Rai M Azlan Shahid on Vimeo.