smokerings

coruscate, coruscate, aster minifique..

it is interesting and much joyful to know that the reason i can barely afford fuel for my own car is because i am paying for the ministers' cars. and mobiles. and luxury bills. and (who knows?) utility bills. and the water, leave us not forget that. --->

which reminds me. LAHORIS, THERE'S NO BLOODY WATER IN THIS COUNTRY. KINDLY STOP DEPLETING WATER RESERVES. KINDLY READ THE NEWSPAPERS. WAKE UP.

finally (and this is to crown it all off, this is when i start thinking that the world has truly gone mad) :

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

FIR against Khuhro, 4 MPAs

KARACHI: Treasury Member of the Sindh Assembly (MPA) Eshwar Lal registered a first information report (FIR) on Tuesday against five MPAs, including Opposition Leader Nisar Khuhro, for beating him up on June 21. The FIR has been registered against opposition MPAs Munawar Abbasi, Murad Ali Shah, Salim Hingoro and Mohammad Nawaz Chandio, besides Khuhro. The FIR was filed at Preedy police station under Section 506-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (threat to murder) and Section 324 (attempted murder). No arrests had been made by the time this report was filed on Tuesday evening. On June 21, the opposition MPAs beat up Lal during a Sindh Assembly budget session for sending a “love note” to MPA Shazia Marri of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The opposition MPAs and Lal were suspended by the assembly speaker. The four MPAs from the PPP defied the ban and continued attending house proceedings. The Opposition in the Sindh Assembly announced on Tuesday that all its members would court arrest as well should the police arrest the five MPAs. “We have been informed that an FIR was registered against me and four other MPAs,” Khuhro said at a press conference in his chamber. “I am proud to have been named in the FIR.” He said that the FIR was a “plot hatched by the Sindh chief minister”. Qaim Shah of the PPP said that the speaker had punished Lal for the incident by suspending him for the remainder of the session on that day, but had banned the other MPAs for two more days. “The MPAs have been punished and they cannot be punished twice,” Shah said, adding that the FIR had “no legal status”. staff report

and as long as you're reading that, yeh bhi parh lo:

Should women get a dressing down for dressing up?

By Zarnageen

KARACHI: Men and women belonging to different professions spoke to Daily Times about their perception of the Eshwar Lal-Shazia Marri incident. They were specifically asked how a public figure should dress and how should they be treated.

Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Munibur Rehman said that women of the assembly should follow the dress code as laid down by Islam and also display the expected mannerisms as taught to them by the teachings of the religion. He said that every Muslim knows that it is mandatory in the religion for every woman to wear complete hijab. Women in the assembly should have separate seats and as far as Shazia Marri’s case is concerned it just goes to show that only modern women face such problems.

PPP MNA Fauzia Wahab said that a workingwoman should be modest and simple in her dressing and mannerisms. Love letters are always showered on women but to blow a little “chit” out of proportion was not appropriate. Eshwar Lal’s beating does not prove bravery or heroic behaviour. Shazia should not have created such a big issue out of nothing. She ended up making a fool of herself.

PPP MPA Rubina Qaimkhaani said that a workingwoman is allowed to look after herself in the form of dressing nicely and grooming herself. MPAs, especially women, should be role models. She said that a woman’s work is judged by her physical appearance and it is important to look nice. Shazia’s incident has nothing to do with the fact that she dressed well, if this was the case then Mukhtaran Mai would have never gone through such an ordeal.

Sindh Hilal-e-Ahmar Vice-Chairperson Shamim Kazmi said a working woman is looked down upon in our society no matter what profession she is a part of. Jamaat-e-Islaami MNA Laeeq Ahmed said like seats for MPAs should be segregated. Men of the Sindh Assembly should respect their fellow MPAs. A woman is worth respecting no matter which field she belongs to.


we spend days and nights throwing the concept of empowerment back and forth. i realise i am left out of that loop because i dont really believe in empowerment of women at all. it doesnt mean that the harrassment and discrimination, the stares and leers and aggression will stop; it only means that women will learn to deal with it on the streets. its a daft word. it suggests that by tolerating a man's gaze long enough to ride a bus a woman is powerful. more powerful? marginally? maybe.
the funny thing is, if we tell our parents (ok, fine. the patriarchs) about the harrassment we face on the streets, they'll only put us back in the house. nothing changes. because we're not talking. isn't it amazing, that metal grill that seperates lecherous male hands from chaste female backsides? i've seen cages in the zoo made of lighter material. we're animals, aren't we?

one day, this country (its people) will realise that nothing matters. not religion, not god, not morality. those books and stories, priests and soothsayers tell you nothing, they have no idea of what you are going through. you trust only yourself, and the people stuck in the same prison. let the rich fly away and become shit-scrapers in other countries. turn around and tell me that your life doesn't have any significance for anyone but yourself. at this point, i really dont care what most of us think about it. what will matter (only, ever, in the end, ultimately) is what any one of us choose to do about it.