Adil Najam

Note: Updated post, with reader suggestions for Pakistani Restaurants, here.

I will be in Chicago next week. As a Pakistani in America, the first thought that comes to my mind when I think of Chicago, is Devon Avenue; or ‘Dewan Street’ to us desi types. How can you not be intrigued by a street one part of which is called Mohammed Ali Jinnah Way, another is called Gandhi Marg, and yet another is known as Golda Meier Boulevard! Notwithstanding the sociological and political nuances of the multi-ethnic immigrant community that lives and works in and around Devon Avenue, for me the real significance of Devon Street is the food. Good food. Some would say great food.

My friends in Chicago insist that the very best Pakistani food to be found outside of Pakistan is to be found at ‘Dewan Street’. Some swear by Sabri Nihari, others prefer Usmania. Of course, my friends in Houston disagree; at least one of them believes that La Sani deserves the title. Those from New York will just laugh it off and rant out their own long list, and Shaheen Food and Sweets will nearly always be on that list. On the West Coast of the US, you have Shahnawaz both in Los Angeles and in the Bay Area. Another common favourite is the inconspicuously titled Food Factory in the Washington DC area which is Afghani-Pakistani and serves great freshly baked naans.

But this is just in USA. Tokyo is rich in Pakistani restaurants, including the Gandhara and Toronto has its own ‘little Pakistan’ with a street full of authentic Pakistani eateries. London, I would not even hazard a guess on because of its amazingly rich culinary offerings. I remember having some of the best seikh kabab’s I have ever had in Copenhagen, great nihari in Cardiff, rass malai in Cape Town kulfi in Vienna and, yes, pullao in Brasilia.

I am guessing I have already offended many readers by either mentioning what they consider the wrong choice, or not mentioning what they would consider the right choice. After all, the only thing that Pakistanis get more passionate about than politics, is food. Except, we tend never to compromise on the latter.

In that very spirit, lets hear from you about where you think we can get the BEST PAKISTANI FOOD OUTSIDE OF PAKISTAN?

Tell ATP your favourite Pakistani restaurants outside of Pakistan. If you live outside Pakistan, what are the best Pakistani restaurants in your area?

Do send us your favourites and nominations and we will start compiling a list and maybe put it up for permanent display somewhere on ATP.

Readers in Pakistan, we apologize; with you we cannot even compete!

Now you know why the world price of gold has been going up!

This couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary last week. So, I guess it is time to congratulate them by putting this picture up.

I have been looking for this since I started ATP and finally found it on Asma’s highly recommended blog Reflection of my Soul.

I first thought of turning it into an ATP photo-quiz about who this was, or better still if you could guess just how much gold is laden on this poor girl and how can she still smile; or, for that matter, even stand straight with all this metal on her.

Both kids boast very famous fathers; one in Pakistan one in India. So, you want to find out who this is? OK, read on…

Lets cut the suspense. The guy (and he is really not who this photograph is about) is Junaid, son of famous Pakistan cricketer Javed Miandad. The girl is Mahrookh, daughter of wanted Indian underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Yep, you read it right.

They got married in Dubai last year in a widely (over-)publicized wedding, about which The Hindu reported:

The much talked-about marriage of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s daughter and the former Pakistani Test cricketer Javed Miandad’s son began at a five star hotel here … amidst tight security and the festivities were out of bounds for those without invitation cards… [However]

The Deccan Herald added:

While [Javed] Miandad and his wife attended the late night ceremony on Saturday, it was not clear whether Dawood, who is… wanted by India in connection with the Mumbai serial bomb blasts, has attended the wedding. According to sources, Indian intelligence agencies kept a close watch at the venue of the wedding… especially to know who all are attending from India, especially from Mumbai. However, it is believed that no big shots from either Bollywood or from the sports circuit were present at the lavish ceremony.

Pakistan’s the Daily Times added more details:

The daughter of a wealthy Indian fugitive accused by Washington of links to Al Qaeda married the son of a top Pakistani cricketer in Dubai on Saturday, in a high society wedding with all the trappings of a Bollywood film… Former Pakistani cricket captain Javed Miandad confirmed earlier this month that his son Junaid would marry Mahrukh Ibrahim, whose father is accused by India of a wave of bomb attacks in Bombay in 1993 that killed 260 people… Police with sniffer dogs patrolled the grounds of the Dubai five-star hotel where a small crowd of media and onlookers gathered on a balmy night after news of the venue was leaked… Ibrahim, put on a US Treasury list of global terrorists in 2003, would have risked arrest by turning up. The stream of guests arriving including Javed Miandad, dressed in a white suit… Junaid met Mahrukh in London, where he is studying.

So, we got this this news about a year late. But let it not be said that ATP misses out on the ‘real’ news.

Adil Najam

Update: here.

ATP has been following the developing story about the reported destruction of a Hindu temple in Rangmahal, Lahore. We first wrote about the initial reports on June 14 and then gave a detailed account of how how events were unfolding, on June 17. At that point, the ‘facts’ of the story (as opposed to all the rhetoric coming from both Pakistan and India) were:

1. The building in question was NOT Krishna Mandir. There is a Krishna Mandir in Lahore, but it is on Ravi Road (far away from Rangmahal). Krishna Mandir is intact and functional. And, the Pakistan government has recently supported its renovation.
2. However, there was concern that the demolished building was also once a Mandir, although no longer functional. A Hindu resident of Rawalpindi (250km from Lahore) Mr. Om Prakash Narayan had moved the Lahore High Court to stop construction on at the site. The Court had issued a stay order and required the authorities to provide evidence that their action was legal (which it would not be if it were a Temple).

There have been political murmurs on the issue since then, but ATP kept quiet because there were no facts to report or react to. Now, there seems to be a new and important development in the case.

According to the Daily Times on 30 June, 2006 Om Prakash Narayan, who had filed a petition in the Lahore High Court has withdrawn his writ, saying the temple was intact and he had filed the petition because of a misunderstanding. Mr Narayan, who is also the secretary general of the Pakistan Minorities Welfare Council was reported as saying:

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