Adil Najam
We are planning a more detailed review of Mukhtaran Mai’s book In the Name of Honor: A Memoir
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Adil Najam
The above headline is taken verbatim from a story in Dawn (15 November, 2006) because, frankly, I cannot improve upon it. (BTW, no, this is not a Halloween story… this story is much scarier!). The story is indeed a ‘fantastic’ one and Dawn claims to have relevant documents to prove its claims. Here is the story in full:
A ‘dead’ man who managed to rise to a high office in the federal bureaucracy looks to be on his way out. Officials of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) were not amused when Dawn approached them to check the amazing resurrection of their Director Finance, Syed Aimal Shah. They suddenly realised that the walking dead man was “surplus” to their staff requirements and must be sent back to his “parent department”.
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S.A.J Shirazi
To-ing and fro-ing, at time zigzagging, in Punjab introduces to wonders and legions of what may be called middle ground of cultural fusion of the present Punjab. The area is gold mine for history seekers, spiritual and curious travelers. You may find much more than what you hear or read. It pays to get out into the countryside and talk to ordinary people.
People of the area are eager to help – on their own expense – when you ask any body. One finds volunteer ‘guides’ who were forth coming with wealth of information. Chillianwala is a historic village that played an important role in the history of the South Asia. It was a battle ground where British and Sikh forces fought one of the decisive battles in the history of the Subcontinent in 1849. The quiet village has not changed much since then. Only slowly old agricultural methods are changing and tractors and wheat threshers are seen in please of bull driven ploughs. Painted double story houses are coming up where used to be conventional mud houses. Land is excellent with record carrying capacity and the display of seasonal crop is very powerful.
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