by Muslim Rizvi

Last night it was thunder
Lightning and rain
In the city’s suburbs
In a dark lonely lane
It’s the edge of the night
And the nascent sunlight
Is searching for way
To make it a day
Clouds that surround
Are scattering away
Less grievous, relieved
With a heart void of fear
Of far and of near
Having shed every tear
The last falling drops
from the shades of the shops
on a torn x-ray sheet
in the side of the street
makes music so queer
so bitter so sweet

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Owais Mughal

Pakistan has finished at a distant seventh place in the 29th Champions trophy hockey tournament. This is the lowest rank for Pakistan in the history of Champions Trophy. Despite being the national game of Pakistan, the demise of hockey in the country has been epic. In the recent past Pakistan hockey team got defeats at the hands of China, Canada and Malaysia, which were unheard of until 2006. So where does the blame lie for this steady debacle? I thought about it and I concluded that besides the usual suspects i.e the coach, the captain, the selection committee etc; A big portion of the blame also goes to the disproportionate sponsorship which goes to the game of cricket as compared to that of hockey. There is lots of money in becoming a cricket superstar and not so much in becoming the hockey hero. Not to mention the glamor and the popularity associated with being a cricketer is manifolds than a hockey player. e.g. how many advertisement offers does Sohail Abbas (hockey) gets as compared to (say) Shahid Afridi (Cricket). Of course Shahid‘s good looks also play a role but Sohail Abbas is not that ugly that he couldn’t even get Lifeboy soap’s endorsement. Zameer Jafri‘s sher comes to mind

un ki gali meiN aisay khaRaa hooN
jaisay hockey ka goal keeper hooN

Adil Najam

Today, December 10, marks the World Human Rights Day. The theme for this year’s World Human Rights Day is Dignity and Justice For All of Us. One could not possibly think of a more tragic reminder of the state that our country has descended into. It is easy, perhaps too easy, to focus only on the dimensions of injustice and indignity that are highlighted by Pakistan’s current political crises. The reality, however, is that the scars of economic indignity and economic injustice run even deeper.

The sad news is that he state (i.e., the government apparatus) has turned Pakistan into the land of indignity and injustice. The good news is that, divided as it is, society continues its struggle for dignity and justice. The State, with all the recourses that it has at its command, continues to employ ever harsher instruments of control leading to ever greater indignities and injustice for the citizenry. The resilience of society, however, stands tall and speaks out loud. At least for now.

And that is the great question that stares at us on this World Human Rights Day. Will the State’s instrumentality of oppression triumph over Society’s resilience and quest for dignity and justice?