Sindh in Indian anthemColumnist Masood Ashar wrote in Jang that a man in India had approached the Indian Supreme Court with the plea that the national anthem of India be changed and reference to Sindh in it be taken out so that India was not seen as laying claim to a territory that belonged to Pakistan and was not its own. The Indian court had asked the government to file a reply which had not yet come. The Indian national anthem was written much before 1947 by Tagore during the politics of the partition of Bengal. Tagore designated all the areas that fell in India then and had no idea that Pakistan would be formed in 1947 and that Sindh would go to Pakistan.
Mosque is from 'mosquito'!
Writing in Khabrain Hafiz Sanaullah stated that he had got to know an official at the American consulate named William Spengler who was an expert on Islam and had nearly converted. Spengler told him that Masjid was the right term and English mosque was derived from Spanish and was an insulting term since it meant mosquito. Thus when you say mosque you are implying that a mosque is a place where mosquitoes breed. The columnist was so impressed by the learning of Mr Spengler that he stopped writing mosque in English and took up Masjid as the correct version.
Pakistani intellectual Shirin Tahirkheli
Writing in Khabrain Khalid Minhas stated that Shirin Tahirkheli who had recently become secretary of state Ms Condoleezza Rice's special adviser was actually the daughter of a great Pakistani mathematician, Dr Raziuddin Siddiqi, who had migrated to Pakistan from Hyderabad Deccan and was chancellor of Peshawar University. Shirin was born in Hyderabad Deccan in 1944 and arose as a great scholar in the United States. The columnist said that the Indian lobby was greatly perturbed over Shirin's new appointment.
Eyes and ears closed
Writing in Nawa-e-Waqt Frozuddin Ahmad Faridi expressed shock at Governor State Bank Ishrat Hussain's comment that prices had gone up because of the rise in the buying power of the people. This increase in buying power was supposed to be proof of the government's good economic governance. Faridi stated that in Pakistan the stomachs and pockets of the masses were empty while the ears and eyes of the rulers were closed. This was an excellent condition for good governance. The truth was that the pyramid of foreign exchange reserves of the value of $12 billion was erected by the State Bank by printing money and buying dollars with it on the market. This pyramid was now laying eggs (anday-bhachay) and the masses were under pressure from resultant inflation.
Dr Israr on fundamentalism
Writing in Nawa-e-Waqt Dr Israr Ahmad stated that in today's world fundamentalism was considered bad but a Muslim was in essence a fundamentalist because he believed in the fundamentals of the Quran and the Prophet's tradition. In fact the West condemned fundamentalism because of the Muslims' adherence to the basic tenets of their faith. The Muslims were not free after their pledge to the fundamentals of Islam. On the other hand libertarianism (madar pidar azadi) was passed off by the West as roshan khayali (enlightenment) and moderation and adopted by us as a kind of slavery to the agenda of the United States. Enlightenment and liberalism was against Allah and were ma'anavi kufr (intellectual apostasy).
Kashmir will be decided in 2008
Quoted in daily Pakistan, the astrologers in Lahore predicted that the Kashmir dispute would not be resolved before 2008. In 2006, the PPP would rule at the centre and the PMLN would rule in Punjab. And President Musharraf would be president for a long time. The Muslims had suffered misfortunes because they had strayed from the teaching of the Quran and the Prophet PBUH.
Pious robbers strip a general
According to Sarerahe in Nawa-e-Waqt a gang of robbers entered the house of a retired general in Rawalpindi and made off with his cash and jewellery plus his brand new Honda car. While keeping the family at gunpoint they advised them to say their namaz regularly and give khairat (charity). They had flowing beards and piously refrained from hurting anyone.
Pakistani ulema against woman imam
Quoted in Khabrain Jamaat Islami leader Munawwar Hasan said that by allowing a Muslim woman to lead the prayer in the US the Americans were creating a new edition of Islam for their own purposes. Prof Sajid Mir of Ahle Hadith said that Islam had been deeply insulted by the Americans' plot of getting a woman to lead the namaz. Sarfraz Naeemi of Jamia Naeemia of Lahore said America had attempted to create fitna. Aslam Siddiqi said that Muslims will not say namaz behind a woman but watch her behind. According to daily Pakistan, Qazi Hussain Ahmad's daughter Raheela Qazi said that Islam did not allow a woman to do imamat. Sajid Chaudhry said that the Muslim ulema in America kept quiet because they wanted to retain their green cards.
Americans didn't want Musharraf
Quoted in Jang magazine Tariq Ali said that Americans usually changed governments in Pakistan but when Musharraf came to power they did not want him. Indira Gandhi stopped her generals from attacking West Pakistan in 1971. Tariq Ali was arrested after being suspected of being a body guard of Che Guevara. Gwadar was being built as a second Dubai.