Adil Najam

Once again our eyes swell up, our hearts miss a beat, our body shakes in shock and anger, and the banality of mayhem hits us in the gut, as the enemies of Pakistan continue on their killing spree. 23 Pakistanis are dead in Lahore in today’s dastardly attack already. More remain in critical conditions.

We have been here before: here and here and here and here and here here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and it seems everwhere. One cannot bear to count any more. One shudders to think. Just how many Pakistanis will be slaughtered by the beasts who do this before their hatred is satisfied?

Adil Najam

This interesting story comes to us via The New Statesman, written by Sam Alexandroni (published 21 May, 2009). It is worth reading in full; and worth a thinking much about. There are many parts of this story that are truly inspirational. Other parts are worrisome. One wonders, whether this vigilante approach is the right one for this serious problem. The problem needs to be cured. But is this the cure? Or is vigilantism a problem unto itself?

On the outskirts of Chaman, a town in Balochistan on the Afghan border, there is a compound with high mud walls topped with broken glass. A worn Pakistani flag flutters above the steel gate and on the dusty ground, under a hot sun, sleeps a well-fed guard dog. This is the headquarters of the Haji Janan Trust, a unique organisation dedicated to waging war on drugs.

“It all started when my childhood friend began taking heroin,” recalls Haji Janan, the local businessman who set up the trust.

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Kathay Kalame

At the age of 4 me and my elder brother were roughly the same height. Then my brother shot up to almost twice his original height in about a year while my height increased by a mere 30%. In short, I acquired a complex about my height even though I was growing normally. Since my point of reference was Big Brother, I felt shorter after growing 30% than when I was shorter by 23%, simply because Big Brother had grown much taller.

The plight of the Pakistani Rupee in relation to the US Dollar is not much different today.

(Above: The rates for the Pakistan Rupee vs. US Dollar, Euro, and British Pound, respectively, since May 2007).