Owais Mughal

These photos are all from the daily Dawn and were posted there in the past two to three weeks. Each photograph is a story in itself and we would love to hear your comments or titles for them.

(1) This photo is from Lahore. A monkey; unable to find one of his own specie; is seen busy collecting lice from his master’s head. This photo reminds me of the sher:

teray zanoo pe meiN sar rakh kar abhi sota hooN
inqalaab aaye to mujh ko bhi jagaana saaqi

Guest Post by Naveed E.

A Dialogue between ‘The Wise’ and ‘The Fledgling.’

“You know, only God can afford to mete out belated justice and get away with it.� sermonized the Wise.

“What about the courts. If they provide justice though a bit late, doesn’t it work? Atleast it is better than not doing justice at all.� I asked smartly.

“Slackness , an innocuous bad habit which can be conveniently overlooked otherwise becomes an unpardonable act when the courts resort to it.. When courts succumb to slackness , the sufferers undergo further agony . Their faith in the courts and system begins to erode. After endlessly cooling their heels outside the court-rooms , a strong desire to settle scores outside the court finds a foot-hold in their heart. They avoid courts. On the other hand tort-feasers are encouraged. Courts’ slackness keeps them away and free from the claws of justice. Crime flourishes.â€Â? the Wise explained.

Adil Najam

It is both sad and surprising that the NWFP gets such little credit for its cultural and intellectual contributions to contemporary Pakistan despite the immense impact that artists and intellectuals from the NWFP have had.

Of course, the Frontier is not the only part of the country whose contributions get drowned out amidst the (sometimes self-congratulatory) discourse about Lahore, Karachi and (more recently) Islamabad [as someone who grew up in all three of these wonderful cities – enough, in fact, to consider myself a proud native of all three – I hope I can say this without sounding accusatory]. These cities (especially the first two) have always attracted great talent from elsewhere in the country. They have had the generosity of heart to not only welcome but to embrace all comers; so much so that the new comers become natives and are seen as such.

My point is not to undermine the importance of the more visible centers of artistic and intellectual life, but to express a concern that those who live outside of NWFP can sometimes tend to ignore its contributions.