Adil Najam

Following up on the ATP blogpost from June 19, 2006 (Mughal-e-Azam: A party fit for an emperor), Reuters and various Indian news outlets are now reporting that veteran Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar, who is married to actress Shabana Azmi has been refused a visa for Pakistan and that other Indian filmstars who were coming to Karachi for the opening of Mughal-e-Azam have decided to cancel the trip in protest.

Speaking to the Press Trust of India, Javed Akhtar said:

I don’t understand what kind of a threat I can pose to that country. In fact, we were going for a very noble cause, where a day after the premiere, we were scheduled to participate in a telecom to raise funds for earthquake victims. .. After hearing that I have been denied a visa, the organiser Akbar Asif… called a press conference in Karachi and announced that he was postponing the event until I am granted a visa. I suppose it is now as good as cancelled… I am, in fact, quite amused at it. I feel they have given me too much importance. The only thing that comes to mind is that I have been too frank for their comfort on sensitive issues and in a society where there is no tradition of having opposition, this is bound to happen.

Of course, one has yet to hear the version from the Pakistan side and there may well be a valid explanation for this. But irrespective of what that might be, did this really need to happen? Is the needless controversy this is bound to generate really worth it? is anyone at all thinking about the public diplomacy aspects of this?

Adil Najam

Can you recognize this man? No, not Nixon, the other guy. The one to the left.

I imagine that most of you can. But still, do tell me. In case you cannot, here is another picture of him.

I wanted to get us going with an easy picture on what I hope will be a somewhat regular feature of guessing who or what is in the picture. Feel free to share your thoughts on the person if you wish.

[P.S. I know, this is a sly way of checking if anyone is even reading this thing, and finding it useful enough to merit a response. But keeping this blog going is taking a lot of time, and I would like some indication from the readers that its worth the effort; that there are at least a few who are not just visiting but willing to actively engage in the discussions. Thanks.]

Adil Najam

Pakistan–or, at least, Lyari–has reason to celebrate the Football World Cup 2006. As the World Cup fever rises, crime in this area drops.

The correlation is clear, and the causality is implied. Now, if we could only have a Football World Cup that lasts all year long, every year.Here are the details according to a story being reported by Reuters (22 June, 2006):

Javed Akhtar Baloch, a councillor in Lyari, densely populated district of Karachi, is a happy man these days. He knows that while the residents of his district in the port city sit riveted in front of televisions watching the World Cup, he will not have to deal with the usual daily flurry of street crime and drug abuse. “Soccer is like a religion for them,� Baloch said. “They support Brazil just like they would Pakistan.�

Lyari, one of the oldest and most densely populated parts of the city, is plagued by street crime, drugs, unemployment and deprivation but Baloch said during the World Cup there was a noticeable fall-off in crime... Police confirmed there were fewer reports of street crime while the World Cup was on.

Like everywhere in the world, football (soccer) fever is high all over Pakistan (see photographs of Pakistani girls painting their faces and hands with football motifs; these pictures from Multan).

However, FIFA World Cup fever is nowhere higher than it is in Lyari. Lyari has 140 registered soccer clubs and many of the country’s top players emerge from the area. The Pakistan Football team that won the Gold Medal at the 2004 South Asian Federation (SAF) Games had included a number of players from this community. An earlier report in the Daily Times (9 June, 2006) had detailed this passion:

…over the last four years, there has been a steady increase in street crimes in the area. Joblessness among both educated and illiterate classes has increased just as rapidly as the sanitation, water supply and sewerage systems have deteriorated. But even though Lyari’s problems have multiplied [since the last Football World Cup], none of this has dampened its enthusiasm for football. The people of Lyari have made a variety of arrangements to enjoy FIFA. Large screen makeshift cinemas have been planned for the streets of Chakiwara, Singhu Lane, Baghdadi.

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