KARACHI: The journey of the Pakistan football team from Sharafi Goth all the way to the Street Child World Cup in Rio de Janeiro has also been the story of reformation for at least nine local U18 players.

The Pakistan squad is all set to leave for the SCWC 2014 in Brazil on March 27, while coach Abdul Rashid will be concluding the camp today.

Rashid spent three months with the talented players, who are coming from a rough past and experienced difficult times on the streets.

“It’s an honour to train these children and prepare a team to compete in Brazil,” Rashid told The Express Tribune.

“These boys have come a long way in life from living on the streets, from using drugs and abandoning their families. They have a better life now and through football they’ve now found a purpose.”

According to him, Pakistan will compete in the seven-a-side tournament. The competition will also feature teams from 19 other countries including Argentina, Brazil, England, the US, Nicaragua, Liberia, South Africa, Philippines, Indonesia, Egypt and defending champions India.

“I know my players will perform well because of their spirit. With this tournament, all of them have found a sense of responsibility. Most of them still can’t believe that they will be going to Brazil, representing Pakistan. But as a coach I know that each one of them have proved themselves by training hard and learning the technique quickly.”

The SCWC is an initiative to give an identity to the street children all over the world. The first SCWC took place in South Africa in 2010.

Locally, the preparations of the SCWC were managed by Azad Foundation in collaboration with the British Council and other local organisations who work with the street children for their rehabilitation.

Rashid was also a part of the selection process which took over six months. It involved holding camps in impoverished communities in Korangi, Mauripur, Ibrahim Hyderi, Lyari and Machar Colony.

Making a place in the final camp, 16-year-old Salman Hussain, who lived on the streets for four years, said that participation in SCWC is the most important thing for him.

“This is the first time that I played football,” he said. “I can’t say whether we’ll win or not, but just the fact that we are competing with other countries is overwhelming.”

Meanwhile, striker Owais Ali, who left his home when he was six said that with this opportunity, he has made his mother proud.

“The biggest moment for me was to reunite with my mother four years ago through the Azad foundation.  I’m all she has now and I know she is proud of me,” said the ninth-grade student.

On the other hand, vice-captain Aurangzeb and his fellow midfielder Abdul Raziq are touted to be the players to watch out for, according to Rashid.

“I’ll be playing football, I want to have a career in it now,” said Raziq, who used to sell fruits on a make-shift stall in front of a football stadium in Mauripur.  Similarly, Aurangzeb said that football is his passion and he wants to score in Brazil for Pakistan.

Meanwhile, goal-keeper Samir Ahmed will lead the team in Rio ; Quetta’s Faizan Fayyaz, Muhammad Shoaib, Mehr Ali and Rajab Ali are also included in the squad.

You can view the slideshow of these young footballers here.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2014.

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Dance theatre as a collaborative of dance and drama is largely an alien term for Pakistan. Its very recent introduction can be attributed to modern choreographers such as  Joshinder Chaggar. She has time and again fused dance and other forms of movement with dialogue to initiate some sort of a conversation with the audience. Despite that, the audience has not learned to appreciate a performance like that as a whole — the claps and awes are always generated on a witty line or a challenging dance move. The wholesome experience has still not been perfected by the artistes or holistically experienced by the audience. Naivety prevails on the stage and beyond the fourth wall.

In all this disarray comes Eksod, a movement and dance piece by the German director Birdgel Joka. He not only succeeded in visually transforming the Napa stage into an asylum of his thoughts by using multiple projection techniques, but also left the audience with a feeling of distress despite the major language barrier.  To put it more simply, this was the first time Karachi saw proper dance theatre, where movements had the ability to shift your responses and sensibilities, without saying a single word.

Though a few words were said in the beginning of the play, in Albanian, they didn’t take anything away from the disconcerting experience that Joka and his team generated with a dynamic, and more so multi-dimensional, use of the stage.

The performance was inspired from an Albanian movie Rethi I Kujteses that revolves around control in a totalitarian regime, and how the society responds to it. The performance seemed very introspective though, as it tried to portray different parts of a person’s memory by creating spaces divided by membranes on stage. The director didn’t consider it a self-portrait. For him, the rendition was more of a showcase of his self-exile and an escape from it.

The idea was aptly complimented by the video projections that were occasionally displayed on the membranes and the rest of the stage. Mattia Gandini (dancer) and Joka (lead dancer) start running away from their own projections that were cast on stage. This cohesion of dance, movement and technology was the real strength of their performance, and something that Pakistani artistes should look to for inspiration.

The highlight of the performance was the manner in which both Joka and Gandini synced their movements with the variations of audio levels, as they moved around an audio device placed on the stage. Their synchronisation was so spot-on that it seemed that the device was emitting sound in accordance with their movements. However, the director later clarified that it was all rehearsed to meet the variations of the score.

Joka was definitely the star of the night with his acrobatic and hip-hop inspired moves, while Gandini and the extras from Napa complimented him the best they could.

The audience’s reception was not very conclusive, as it all happened so quickly and so visually that they were out of their seats almost before easing into them.

Verdict: A performance like Eksod might have arrived a little too early for a rather naïve Pakistani theatre going audience, but it was much needed. It is the promising yet taxing projects like Eksod that inspire upcoming artistes to come out of their comfort zones and aim for something extraordinary.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2014.

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After US commandoes successfully carried out an operation on the oil tanker, Morning Glory, rescuing the 21-member crew from the clutches of Libyan rebels and seizing stolen Libyan oil, the fears of the families about their loved ones’ fate are far from over.

The ship — which has been taken over by US Navy Seals — has a Pakistani captain, Mirza Noman Baig, and five other Pakistanis in its crew — chief officer Ghufran Margoob, second officer Mehdi Shamsi, third officer Asif Hasan, Naik Zada and Muhammad Arshad.

Morning Glory is now moving towards a Libyan port. According to the international media, the cargo, with $20 million worth of oil, and the crew is to be handed over to the Libyan government by the Americans. If this happens, the families of the crew fear that their men may be wrongly implicated by Libyan authorities for assisting the rebels to load the oil onboard and then controlling the ship on their demands.

“Our men are innocent, their records can be checked,” said Shamsi, talking to The Express Tribune. “They were taken hostage by armed Libyans rebels and were forced to follow orders.”

Foreign media reports that the oil, which belongs to Libya’s national oil company, was loaded when rebels took over the North Korean tanker. The issue has sparked a crisis in Libya, who sought help from the US, asking them to intervene and bring back their cargo.

Here in Pakistan, the families’ only concern is to bring their people back home, safe and sound from what is turning into an increasingly complicated situation by the minute.

Shamsi has spent the last few days calling up NATO headquarters, Cyprus Marine Police and even the Pakistani Embassy in Libya — requesting for help. He vows not to rest until his 25-year-old son and the rest of the Pakistanis are back home.

From the government, there has been an indifferent response. “There is no money involved,” said Shamsi. “Hence, the government has no interest in this case because there is no commission.”

According to him, it was on February 25 that a 21-man crew gathered at the Egyptian port to travel in the oil tanker. The crew included six Pakistanis, six Indians, three Sri Lankans, two Sudanese, two Syrians and two Eritreans.

Initially destined for Tunisia, the captain of the ship received orders from the Dubai-based company and operator of the ship — Saud Shipping — to move towards a Libyan port, which was controlled by the rebels. “The rebels in Libya, brandishing arms, took them as hostage,” said Shamsi.

The stolen oil was loaded on the ship, the government and the Libyan rebels exchanged fire, but the crew remained unhurt. Three armed Libyans, carrying AK-47s, forced the crew to get the ship out of Libyan territory.

Calling Shamsi from the ship’s satellite phone, Mehdi told him that they were near Cyprus, when the rebels said that they are bringing 10 more people onboard, most likely more rebels.

The night when US commandoes raided the ship, the tense father paced his room, unable to sleep. Later, when he spoke to his son, who told him that they were safe and the armed men were in the custody of the Americans, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Mehdi’s wife, Nadia, a doctor by profession, vows not to let her husband go on a ship once he returns. “These times have been very stressful for him and for us. He has lost a lot of weight. I won’t let him out on the sea again.”

The captain

From Lahore, Captain Noman’s wife Qurratulain, asked on the phone why the government was not doing anything. “Do we only have Pakistani NICs just so we can vote for these heartless leaders? Why don’t they care for their people?” asks the desperate wife.

She recalls that her husband was once thrown off the ship for resisting the rebels, her voice cracks with emotion. “He almost drowned and had to be saved by the crew. Since he is responsible for the lives of the whole crew, he decided not to take any steps that may risk their lives.”

With two minor children in her house, she said that apart from Shamsi’s, no other family was stepping forward and raising the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2014.

In this bookish romance, age is increasingly becoming a defining factor. At the Readers Club tucked away in a secluded corner on an otherwise bustling 13^th Commercial Street in Defence, Karachi, only the middle-aged and seniors are in attendance. Mature enough to understand the underlying messages and draw parallels with real-life experiences but young enough to share hearty laughs over frivolous reads, this group of men and women relish the simple joys of reading.

Deceptively quiet on the outside, the club harbours a group of mostly retired professionals with a zest for life coupled with a quick intellect. Everything from the ingredients of happiness, to daily struggles and the importance of retaining a positive outlook on life is on the table. Midlife and Naked, by Shaista Ayesha, the book under discussion for the week, elicits jokes about being ‘naughty at 40’ and ‘men will always be men’ among the group of nearly 20 men. Coming from different backgrounds, one a cardiologist cum historian, some business executives, ex-NASA employees, civil servants, retired military officers and writers, they all unite under the banner of their common love — reading.

“Some of them have been with the club since its inception in 2001 while others have joined subsequently in the past 13 years of meeting every Friday for the love of books,” says Azmat Khan, the club’s co-founding member. Along with Abbas Hussain — who established the NGO Teachers’ Development Centre (TDC) in 1999 — the duo turned their dream of setting up an exclusive reading space into a reality of a non-profit, well-networked club of nearly 300 members today. The club falls under the umbrella of TDCs numerous engagements and hence all expenses are paid for.

The club does not charge its members any fee as it aims to promote a reading culture. Weekly emails are sent out informing members about the selected book for the upcoming meeting held every Friday, except gazetted holidays, from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Members meet to discuss the book selected by the facilitator, and after a brief synopsis, engage in a moderated discussion on the book in which everyone is welcome to express their opinion and ask questions. Over time, the club has emerged as a breeding ground for intellectual discussions and cultural integration for people with varying opinions and diverse experiences.

The club caters to the reading interests of a wide audience, with themes ranging from politics to history and science to spirituality. Books in both English and Urdu language are preferred to draw more and more people in. Often, however, more interesting than the books are the discussions and the thoughts that reverberate in the room during the dialogue session. For example, during the discussion on Midlife and Naked, a tale of two Pakistani entrepreneurs, facilitated by the author, the theme of self-discovery was effectively highlighted and discussed. According to an attendee, while the protagonists in the book can write about certain values now, he perhaps wouldn’t have met success had he walked down that path earlier on in life. And others soon jump in to present their stance on the subject once the debate is sparked.

Although the club is open for all book lovers, spotting a younger member at the meeting is almost close to impossible. “With the easy availability of eBooks and audio books, the few youngsters who love reading these days just don’t take time out for these things,” claims Azher Tahir, a social media representative for the club. During the tea break that follows a stimulating discussion each week, members sometimes ponder over the absence of younger members while making up with each other for having a difference of opinion during the sometimes heated discussion.

“It is [essential] that reading habits [be] instilled in children from a young age and [it should] also be promoted in schools. Parents should encourage children [to] read,” adds Pervez Iqbal, a member of the club who is of the strong opinion that children whose parents read are more likely to pick up a book. And while the members grieve the loss of young minds during the meeting, they inadvertently play their part in reinforcing the timeless appeal of books and reading.

You can also visit their site at http://e.readersclubpak.org/ Noreen Mumtaz is a student at the Limkokwing University, Malaysia. 

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, March 23^rd, 2014.

KARACHI: Sindh, a home to many archaeological and historical sites and the birthplace of the Indus Valley Civilisation, offers a rich cultural heritage. The landmarks offer an opportunity to journey through an exceptional mosaic of culture and history. To give a glimpse of what Sindh’s heritage sites looks like, a three-day photo exhibition, ‘Sindh Heritage — a Pictorial Journey’ —  of nearly 91 historical sites — has been organised by the Sindh culture department at Frere Hall.

Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani inaugurated the exhibition on Tuesday. “Such events are needed as these bring peaceful life and release the tension prevailing in the city,” Durrani said. Many delegates from all over the world were present at the ceremony.

Gandhara Art and Culture Association director Park Kyo Soon said, “I have only seen The Priest-King statue in picture but here I saw the picture of when it was actually discovered and it is a very touching for me.” Talking about her organisation, she said, “I will surely arrange a picture gallery for the heritage sites of Sindh.”

Supriya Banik Pal, an Indian delegate from Kolkata who is here to publish her paper on ‘Sindh or Sindhu, a study through Mahabharata’, said she wants to visit the sites and not only look at the pictures.

“This beautiful collection of photos gives a clear idea of how rich the culture of Sindh is,” said Russian consul-general Oleg N. Avdeev. “Moen jo Daro civilisation is also very clearly depicted in the photos and looks like we are physically there.”

Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh, vice-chancellor of Sindh Madressatul Islam University said that by inviting international delegates to this exhibition, we provide them an opportunity to enrich themselves with the cultural richness if this province.

“Out of the 129 devolved sites in Sindh, we selected 91 for the display,” said Sharmila Farooqi, special assistant to the chief minister on culture, while talking to The Express Tribune. “Next time we will organise it on a bigger platform with more historical places,” she added. “People who cannot visit the original sites can just go through this gallery and have a pictorial tour of Sindh’s history. This will not only increase their knowledge but will also increase tourism.” Her department is planning to make schools and colleges visit these historical places.

Widow of Hakim Ali Zardari and stepmother of Asif Ali Zardari, Zareen Ara Zardari,  thought the two-day exhibition was not enough for the public. “It should be open for families and students for days,” she said. “This is a good gallery organised at a very low cost,” she added. Dr Michael Jansen from Germany was of the same opinion. He said it should be a permanent gallery.

On the second day of the exhibition on Wednesday, attendance was very thin as only a few families visited the gallery.” They did not promote the event properly in the institutions,” said a worker at Frere Hall. “There are so many beautiful places to explore in Sindh that we don’t need to go abroad,” said Rukhsana Younis, a media student of FUUAST.

“Now we know that there are around 90 places we can also visit, I never knew that Sindh was this rich, thanks to this pictorial journey,” said a housewife visiting the gallery. After the exhibition ends today, the paintings will be shifted to National Museum.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2014.

An Urdu adaptation of Areil Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden by Shoaib Hashmi , the play revolves around Salman (Zain Ahmed) his wife Saba( Bakhtawar Mazhar) and a surprise guest, Dr Saulat ( Nazar ul Hasan). Salman is a well-reputed attorney who works for the government, and is soon to be promoted to the designation of the Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. Saba is one of the victims for whose justice the committee has been formed. In 1983, (a clear representation of the Ziaul Haque era), Saba, who was a college student back then, was forcefully pushed into a government car and later on raped repeatedly. The story picks up as Dr Saulat, a stranger who gave Salman a ride when his car broke down, visits their place to spend the night.

Saba’s anger wasn’t nearly as convincing as it could have been. PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

Focused performance is the heart of any play, especially when there are only three characters, and one of them is mostly restricted to a chair. Raagni does translate into a well-gauged and almost clinical performance by all three actors, but one wonders whether such calculated performances were needed in a play that spends most of its time torturing someone.

That is why despite its very crisp, simple and theatrically unconventional rendition, Raagni lacks the shine on an apparently clean surface. To put it more simply, it lacks aggression and more so, a sense of terror. In such a play, the audience needs to feel the torture the character in focus is going through. That simply doesn’t happen, and neither does the sense of guilt and retribution from the morally correct characters transpire in the experience. Though the performances are awe-inspiring, there is still confusion about the director’s intention and the desired response. The end result neither leaves you with a catharsis on truth and reconciliation, nor is a sense of guilt or retribution conveyed. It’s just an otherwise hollow performance played to perfection, with the former not really expected from a director with a vast reservoir of ideas and solid experience.

Saba’s anger wasn’t nearly as convincing as it could have been. PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

Although the craving to see Saba smack, punch or at least slap the tied up Dr Saulat is never entertained, Mazhar easily delivers her career best on stage. Despite her Sindhi accent and a tendency to eat up words during a rapid interchange of dialogues, she has managed to break away from containment and came off as a truly seasoned actor at NAPA. A few years away from the limelight hasn’t really dented the thespian in her, and the ease with which she shifted from being extremely ferocious to being a clueless little girl says a lot about her potential. Khan partially deserves credit for presenting this other side of Mazhar.

Ahmed has done many stage performances in Lahore, but was performing in Karachi for the first time along with his students. The actor in him is very much alive, and his delivery is definitely more convincing than what we usually see here at the pre-performance announcement. Still, he is no match for his students. Hasan had a very short role that was performed with the finesse usually expected of him.

Saba’s anger wasn’t nearly as convincing as it could have been. PHOTOS: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

Verdict: To sum it up, Raagni is a very important play for Pakistani theatre, as it gives upcoming directors a lesson in being dynamic with a very basic plot, script and setting at hand. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really meet the expectations of the director and the script.

Rating: 3/5

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2014.

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KARACHI: Karachi traffic police have come up with the innovative idea of a mobile theatre to create awareness of traffic rules and road safety measures among children.

Equipped with a multimedia system and two television screens, the air-conditioned mobile theatre, fitted in a traffic police bus, is visiting the city’s major schools. In a one-hour programme, the traffic police experts deliver lectures to students about road safety and the traffic duties of a responsible citizen.

The bus has a 20-seat capacity, in which children can sit and watch videos along with their instructors.

“We teach them the basics with the help of pictures, cartoons and videos,” said inspector Muhammad Arif, one  of the instructors. “This may one day save them from fatal accidents.”  Arif said that children are good learners and they respond to the lectures and ask questions. “We teach them to stop their parents and drivers from overspeeding or from using mobile phones while driving.”

Arif added that they use visuals to show the benefits of using seatbelts and following traffic signals, while also teaching the importance of using indicators properly.

Traffic police claimed that they will cater to all educational institutions and organisations that want their students and employees trained on road safety.

Officials added that the theatre aims to train the country’s future drivers. “The initiative is part of our road safety awareness campaign and we are focusing on children in middle and high school,” said traffic DIG Arif Hanif, while talking to The Express Tribune. “Every school that has a lot of students is welcome to approach us and we will visit and train their students free of charge.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued on Monday notices to various officials on a petition challenging the construction of two underpasses and a flyover in Clifton, allegedly without assessing the project’s impact on the environment.

The high court has sent notices to various government officials, including the director-general of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa), the chief executive officer of the Clifton Cantonment Board (CBC) and the director-general of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA).

Headed by justice Irfan Saadat Khan, the bench ordered the officials to file their comments by April 3.

The residents of Clifton had taken Sepa, the CBC, SBCA and others to the court. They submitted that the respondents had recently initiated the construction work on a project that includes two underpasses and a flyover.

The petitioners told the judges that, under the laws, no project can be started without an assessment of its impact on the environment. However, they added, this project has been launched without one.

Highlighting the technical issues involved in the project, the petitioners claimed that the project will be an inconvenience for residents. They highlighted that traffic coming from Sharae Firdousi towards the area will be blocked upon reaching 26th Street, causing inconvenience to motorists as well as to residents.

The court was pleaded to declare that the project has been launched in violation of building and environmental laws and to order that construction should be stopped immediately.

The court order also stated that constructions for the underpasses and the flyover must not damage temple property.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2014.

KARACHI: How many flags can you paint on a sewing needle? How many alphabets can be written on a grain of rice? These questions might sound like the beginning of a bad joke but it is a legitimate query for the masters of micro-art, Waseem Rahim and Mirza Adeel.

Rahim, 36, a resident of Karachi, is one of the few people in the world who practice micro-art – the art of painting and writing on tiny objects. After completing his studies in textile design in 1996, Rahim initially took up micro-art as a hobby. At the time, he could only manage to inscribe calligraphy on a grain.

Over the years, he has emerged as a champion in micro-art and is now capable of inscribing the flags of 55 countries on a single sewing needle with watercolors with the naked eye.

Rahim specialises in minuscule paintings and shades so tiny that one needs a microscope to be able to distinguish the images. The amazing thing is that Rahim paints them with his bare eye. His secret: a single-hair of a brush, water colours and a whole lot of patience. “Water colours are really tough to paint with on a large canvas. The challenge is a whole lot greater on tiny objects that cannot absorb water colours such as a sewing needle or beard hair,” he tells The Express Tribune.

Though there are a number of popular artists in the field of miniature art, Rahim’s unique oeuvre are what set him apart from others. His microscopic artwork is inspired by Venkatesh, an Indian artist who writes alphabets on a grain of rice using ink. In his miniature masterpieces, Rahim not only matched Venkatesh’s abilities, he superseded them – by painting landscapes on tiny objects, such as grains of rice, poppy seeds, paper pins, beard hair and nuts.

A tribute to Islamic art is a constant feature in Rahim’s work. Paintings of the smallest national flags, landscapes and other images are some of the examples of his work. The man has reached the zenith of his career in a very short time. And for those who aspire to venture into the field, he has some valuable advice. “The most important thing is to stay calm,” he explains. “Micro-art helps boost your confidence and teaches you to be patient. It makes you successful in other ventures in your life and also helps you become a better human being.”

Another miniature artist, Mirza Adeel, who surprisingly has no artistic background, started a similar practice around a year ago. He was inspired by a miniature artist in Murree. Adeel can now write 52 alphabets on a grain of rice. Other than that, he also paints names and verses from the Holy Quran on to a grain.

Adeel can expertly inscribe names on split chickpeas and spaghetti but most of his work is done on grains of rice. The grains are then preserved in a small bottle containing a preservatives, which conserves the grain’s originality.

Adeel uses dyes to paint with a special 0.1mm pen that he has made himself and his formula makes the grain last longer. “The artist in Murree used glycerin and wrote with ink. We use dyes and chemicals to preserve the grain in a pendant that one can wear,” says Adeel.

Adeel started his practice with a small stall a year ago. He now has a team of three and is quite popular with an ever-increasing clientele. “I started off with a small stall and received feedback that was beyond my expectations. As the number of orders rose, I invited my friends, Zaheeruddin and Shahzeb Saqib, to help me out,” he says.

Adeel has exhibited his craft at various venues in the city as well as in universities and colleges. “Students are big fans of our work and we now have an average of five or six customers every day. We take orders online through our official page, AYZ Pendants, as well as on call and deliver the product to the customer,” said Saqib. Each pendant costs Rs250.

Rahim started off with this form of art after completing his textile design studies in mid-1996. The first exhibition of his works was held at the Arts Council in Karachi. He has displayed his talent in more than 10 exhibitions worldwide since.

In 1997, Rahim went to Dubai to display his work at the Dubai Shopping Festival 1997, where the work was greatly appreciated by a Turkish artist, Hasan Kale, besides many international artists. “I showed Kale my work and asked him if it was the same as his. He replied that my work was vastly different and commendable.”

Former president of Pakistan General (retd) Pervez Musharraf presented his unique artwork as a souvenir to the heads of 45 countries at the IDEAS 2000, international defence exhibition and seminar. His work was lauded by foreign delegates and visitors alike.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2014.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) bid farewell to Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai on Thursday in a ceremony that also marked a decrease in the number of sitting judges to 29, against the sanctioned strength of 40.

A full court reference, presided over by SHC chief justice, Maqbool Baqar, was held at the court’s premises to pay tribute to the retiring judge. CJ Baqar highlighted the services rendered by Justice Korai as a member of the bench. He is set to retire today (April 4).

A professional lawyer, Justice Korai, was appointed by the then president, Asif Ali Zardari, as a permanent judge of the high court on September 25, 2009, following a series of litigations.

Earlier, the parliamentary committee on the appointment of the judges to superior courts had turned down two judges, including Korai, after they had been recommended by the judicial commission.

Disagreeing with the committee’s decision, the Sindh High Court Bar Association had challenged the matter in the high court, which allowed its petition and ordered the government appoint the two nominees.

Initially, the federal government had assailed the high court’s judgment before the Supreme Court, where the authorities did not appear despite repeated notices. Upholding the SHC verdict, the SC had ordered the law and justice ministry to issue a notification of his appointment as a permanent judge.

Achievements

During his four-and-a-half year tenure, Justice Korai heard several high-profile cases.

He had granted post-arrest bails to the owners of M/s Ali Enterprises, an ill-fated garment factory, where 259 workers had perished in an inferno in Baldia Town on September 11, 2012.

He has 778 judgments reported in the national law journals, while another 15 have been applied for reporting, according to the SHC official website.

No judicial work

Meanwhile, judicial work remained suspended at the Sindh High Court on Thursday over the demise of one of its former chief justices, Mamoon A Kazi.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2014. 

The buses in question are lying stationary at a terminal especially constructed for the purpose at Surjani Town. A visit to the terminal was a revelation in itself – 73 state-of-the-art CNG buses, their art now rusting away, stand at the compound beyond the open gates. ‘Stand’ is an overstatement as most do not have tyres. Others are missing their batteries or auto-parts, making them incapable of plying the roads. The only sign of life at the compound, apart from the lone employee, are the stray dogs who have found a home inside the buses.

The army of dogs and the lone KMC employee stationed at the compound are, however, not enough to scare away opportunists, who view the open gates as an invitation to take away the buses’ parts and sell them on the black market.

When approached by The Express Tribune, the KMC employee stationed at the compound, Abdul Ghafoor, expressed helplessness as he looked at the sorry state of the vehicles. “Most of these vehicles are not standing on their tyres while their batteries have also been stolen by the residents of nearby areas,” he said, stating the obvious. “I am the only employee stationed here while there are three to four security guards at night.” These personnel are, however, not enough to guard the whole compound, he explained.

The Green Bus service was initiated in 2005, by the then-mayor of Karachi, Niamatullah Khan. The service operated till 2007 after which it was suspended for some time. In 2009, Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, resumed the service but it was terminated once again on April 23, 2013. At the time, the service used to operate on three major routes – from Surjani Town to Safoora Goth, from Surjani Town to Korangi and from Orangi Town to Malir.

During his visit to the compound last week, the administrator assured that the service would be resumed as soon possible. “The Sindh government has approved Rs40 million for the project,” he revealed. Initially, 36 buses will be made operational and will ply two routes – from Surjani Town to Korangi and from Surjani Town to Tower.

Need of the hour

The transport authority has welcomed the decision to resume the service as they feel the city is in desperate need of appropriate means of public transport. The Regional Transport Authority superintendent Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto told The Express Tribune that not a single new route permit had been issued in the last three to four years. Seeing the urban sprawl in the city and the way it is expanding, Bhutto was of the belief that the bus service was the need of the hour. “Karachi’s roads have been choked by Qingqi rickshaws and the large number of private vehicles,” he said. “This service would reduce congestion as people will rather travel in these buses than brave the city’s traffic.”

Behind the scenes

Notwithstanding the official rhetoric, however, KMC’s CBA union president Zulfiqar Ali Shah revealed three factors that caused the service to discontinue the first two times. “The transport mafia, extortion mafia and corrupt officials within the KMC were primarily responsible for the discontinuation of the service,” he explained.  The transport mafia does not want the service to operate as it provides a cheaper alternative, which means they cannot charge higher fares.

In essence, the service is bad for competition. According to Shah, the KMC officials merely want to run a media campaign to show they sincerely wish to re-start the service, so they can fill their pockets with the funds. “They have no money to pay the employees’ salaries,” he said. “How can they run the service with no money?”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2014.

KARACHI: Let us revisit the market. Let us discover a common failing. Let me tell you how to speculate. Let me tell you how to read the screen.

Begin with the fact that the trading average shows you how to proceed. It is a mathematically proven fact that if the average is higher than the prevailing rate, the share has to rise to the level of the average.

Now here you are before the screen. Picture this, the screen is showing you the averages but you are ignoring the message. People who sit before the screen ask the Karachi Automated Trading System (KATS) operators “Yehaan pe limit laga do” (Place the limit on this level). Although the Karachi stock market is the biggest market, the same rules apply to lots in Lahore and Islamabad.

But you are there before the screen. Nothing can take place without you witnessing it. Every day you see this idiocy – whereas the screen is telling you everything when to buy and when to sell.

Simple rule – when the ruling value is below the average, buy! When the ruling value is above the average, sell! All this advice about “buy on weakness and sell on strength” is hogwash.

The screen tells you everything. All you have to do now for tomorrow’s trade is identify the shares which are trading above the average and the shares which are trading below the average.

Come early to the market and place your bets. Say loud and clear “Lao maal” (Get the show on the road!). You can’t go wrong.

And here is some other advice. “When you speculate, speculate big. Don’t hesitate. Back your judgement.”

It has to be a straight choice between being a big fish in a small pond or a big fish in a big pond. Let the size of the pond be determined by you and your will power. Let others come to you to settle.

The big fish is the king. You have to listen to his advice. There is no escape. Let me give you examples — these are from real life. Take the life story of the Guru of India, Ambani. He wanted to be a big fish in a big pond. He defined the size of the pond, the rest is history.

Today, the Indian market revolves around Ambani. These brothers and the property they own are a legend. Think Mumbai. Think Ambani. He owns it.

Imagine having to hold a shareholder meeting in a football field and still have no place for latecomers. Of such initiatives are winners born.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had to drop all charges against Ambani. The press and the shareholders would not accept any other verdict. He had won, SEBI had lost. Not only that, SEBI had to apologise. Such were the footprints of Ambani.

Here is another example:

When I was teaching at the IBA, Asma Riaz and her husband were my students and the husband had speculated in a script that was being squeezed by the professionals. I sold the shares of her husband. And he was very unhappy. He was searching all over the IBA to kill me.

I told him, in two to three days, I will get him back the shares and he will make a profit. I am still alive to tell the story.

So come early to the market and bust the bank. Place huge bets. Collect huge profits. The market is telling a story. Listen to it.

Every day is a new day. The market is forever young. Let’s get started! Get the show on the road!

How many ways are there to achieve the sum of zero? Let me give you some examples:

100=90+10, 100=80+20, 100=70+30 and 100=100+0. The point is whichever way you total it. The sum will always be zero. Valuation in the end is a zero-sum game.

“Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.” Easier said than done for the vast majority of stock traders. On every stock trade, there is someone who wants to sell and someone who wants to buy, at least at a particular price. The person who is selling thinks that he is getting out just in time while the person buying thinks that he is about to make good money.

The truth is that the market doesn’t really reflect some magical perfect valuation of a stock under the efficient market hypothesis. It reflects the mass consensus of how actual individual investors value the stock. It is the sum of everyone’s hopes and fears.

The writer is the chairman of  Ace Securities

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2014.

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KARACHI: Lack of education, awareness, non-implementation of laws and difficulty in understanding the laws are the major reasons why incidents of violence against women continue to rise.

These views were expressed by women’s rights activist Nuzhat Shireen at a seminar, aptly titled ‘Violence against women’. The event was organised at the Mass Communication Department (MCD) of the University of Karachi, by final-year students of MA Previous, under the supervision of Dr Rafia Taj.

According to a report issued by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), over 7,787 cases of violence against women were reported between 2004 and 2011, said Akhtar Baloch, a board member of the HRCP. Women play an equal role in the development of society, he said, stressing the need to implement the laws punishing violence against them.

Journalist Qaiser Mehmood, had a different view. “This is a male-dominated society,” he said. “If women have accepted this evil, no one can help them.”

He explained that new laws were made as issues emerged in society. “When a new issue emerges, laws are enacted accordingly.” Subsequently, it was the job of the law enforcement agencies, the courts, the government and the general public to ensure that the laws are implemented.

Speaking about his personal experiences, Mehmood said that even in a city such as Karachi where most people were educated, the birth of a girl was frowned upon and could end up in a broken marriage. “What can we expect from the rural areas?” he questioned. He advised the youth present at the seminar to take up the cause in any way they could.

“The world’s worst laws can be effective if implemented and the best laws are wasted due to lack of implementation. Change can be enacted only if people are made aware of the existing laws.”

The aim of the programme was to spread awareness regarding the pressing issue. Students screened two documentaries highlighting the plight of women who had been made victims of violence. The focus of the documentaries was rape. “Rape is a major issue these days,” one of the organisers, Sahar Ali, told The Express Tribune.

The seminar was also part of the curriculum under the ‘Development Support Communication’ programme. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Dr Taj explained that purpose of teaching this course was to spread awareness about the social issues affecting society.

“The media has played a vital role in raising awareness about the rape cases but it often does not follow-up on the cases to see what happened to the suspects,” she lamented. “Witnessing the crime creates fear in the minds of citizens. If the media showed the punishments meted out to the perpetrators, it would encourage more people to raise their voice against the wrong-doers.

The next seminar that the students plan to organise will be based on the theme of acid attack cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2014.

However, Kalidasa the epic writer of Shakuntala whose exact era is still disputed to be somewhere between 10 AD and 600 AD would have been a happy man Wednesday night. After all, his play which is seminal to Hinduism was performed for the second time in a place that came into being as a result of differences with followers of Hinduism. Adding to his happiness would be the fact that the play was performed in the premises of Hindu Gymkhana which now houses the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa).

King dushyant in conversation with his advisers. PHOTOS: ATHER KHAN/ EXPRESS

Zain Ahmed and Sunil Shankar, the co-directors of the play, have different strengths as theatre directors, but it is their mutual interest with body movements and unrestricted blocking on stage that converts the interest into synergy.

They chose to remove most of the text from a very text-heavy tale and relied primarily on gestures and choreography to compensate for the missing text. This made the performance engaging at places with the young lot of actors coming up with some very radical and often provocative images, but most of the times the text was missed. To put it more clearly, the lack of actors’ ability to tell a story only through body movements became clearer and clearer as time passed by, which undermined the overall ensemble feel of the play.

Having said that, one needs to keep in mind that the cast (about 20 people) comprised third year students, who have been brought up with an understanding of acting that treats the craft as more of an audio experience. Making them use their entire body as a tool of communication pushed their limits, but it is only challenges like these that’ll make them realise their true potential and evolve as performers.

Live music by Napa alumni Ahsan Bari was the highlight of the night and the way Bari transformed the eastern classical ragas into world music melodies speaks tons about how much both him and Shakuntala have evolved since 2008, when he had composed eastern classical ragas, with only an acoustic guitar and percussions at hand.

This time around it’s the magic of Sarangi that gives you goosebumps and the meticulous playing of Gul Mohammed. The Sarangi player fools you into believing as if there is a Sitar in the orchestra that you cannot see.

“It’s my magic with the Sarangi that can make it sound like anything I want,” Mohammad clarified after the performance. Abeer Shaan on percussions is a relatively new face in the theatre scene and her comfort with such simple but sophisticated live performance can make her a regular contributor to the growing live musical scene of Karachi.

Overall, there was a clear intention of treating Shakuntala as a very contemporary story; with t-shirts and jeans being preferred over kurta pajama for guys and sleeveless tops for girls instead of saaris, being one visible testimony to it.  The few heavy Sanskrit dialogues might be an issue for some, but if you have been watching enough Indian soap operas and Bollywood films then meanings will instantly flow from the subconscious mind.

The love story of the mighty king Dushyant and the beautiful Shakuntala is not one of those in which you walk in to see a brilliant plot unfold and get surprised by an unforeseen climax. You rather watch such a play for the story, because the story itself is the seedling from where the archetypical South Asian love story grew further; the quintessential story of a boy meets girl, they fall in love and are separated by the external forces only to come back together because of some divine intervention or merely by the power of love.

Verdict: Shakuntala is an important step back into our cultural history and a significant step forward in our theatrical progress.  It is certainly not palatable for everyone, but much recommended for honest fans of theatre and live music.

Rating: 3.5/5

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2014.

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KARACHI: Leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) warned that they would stage a sit-in everyday if those responsible for killing their party workers were not caught.

While speaking outside Karachi Press Club, Dr Farooq Sattar said that they would establish a people’s court on the streets if their missing party workers were not found.

More than a hundred members and activists of the party turned up at the demonstration held by the MQM against extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of party workers.

According to the MQM, 45 party workers had gone missing since January 2014, 83 had been killed in extra judicial and target killings since the operation started in the city.

Sattar said that if no action was taken against men in plain clothes who abduct party worker, then they too would dress in plain clothes to deal with these men. He added that the party had information about who these men were and who was giving them orders.

The party leader appealed to the Supreme Court to take sou moto action. He said that those involved in  extrajudicial killings were violating the constitution and should be arrested.

MQM’s Haider Abbas Rizvi said that they were protesting as wanted to share what the families of the missing persons were going through. He added that the party had asked for a targeted operation in the city against criminals, but many men were being taken away just because they supported the MQM.

Khawaja Izharul Hasan, an MQM MPA, said the missing persons petitions were being heard in court after a month and the commission on missing persons which comes to Karachi every year, has yet to hear these cases.

For their loved ones

Men and women were gathered outside the press club holding photographs of their loved ones who had gone missing.

“If my son is a criminal, take him to court,” Shamim Bano pleased to law enforcement agencies. “Don’t do this. Don’t make him disappear.”

Last April, her son Farooq Ahmed was picked up from the passport office in Saddar by men in plain clothes. His mother said that Farooq’s newborn baby boy was only 10-days-old when he went missing. Now, she said, the child is a year old and the family still has no information about his whereabouts.

Shamim Bano has been to many police stations and hospitals in search for her son. “He is diabetic,” she said. “I don’t know how his health is or what situation he is in.”

Kashifa was standing next to Bano clutching at a photograph of her husband Muhammad Farhan. She said he was picked up from Gulshan-e-Maymar on December 7, 2013, in front of her eyes. “Every time we hear about a body being found we can’t breathe,” she said.

Rubab said since her father, Muhammad Irshad, went missing she had to stop going to college as there was no one to fund her education.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2014.

The night before her husband had given her some bad news. He had told her that unlike last year or the year before, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) would not be giving its 10,000 Christian employees a stipend.

“All around the globe, governments are helpful and facilitate its citizens in celebrating religious events and rituals,” she said. “In Pakistan, however, I feel helpless. I don’t know how to explain this to my children.” She added that although Easter is an important event in the Christian calendar, Rehana and her husband had decided to stay at home after Sunday Mass because they don’t feel like they can face their neighbours.

The president of the KMC’s Collective Bargaining Agent, Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah, told The Express Tribune that their sanitation staff, nurses and paramedical staff had not received their salaries since March. The district South staff, he added, had not been paid for two months.

According to Shah, he had received some information about the March salary being given to grade 1 to 15 employees. “We are not hopeful as time has run out,” he said. “Tomorrow is Good Friday and Easter is on Sunday.” He added that they have decided to celebrate Easter sitting in front of Karachi Press Club with the 10,000 staff members who had not been paid.

The KMC’s Christian employees, Shah said, would gather outside the Press Club to protest after celebrating with their family and friends. They plan on to marching to Chief Minister House to register their protest and distress.

“Instead of giving the employees their April’s salary in advance, the KMC just said they will give salary for the month of March late,” he said. “How do they expect their employees to perform their duties well during an emergency situation?”

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Karachi Administrator, Ali Hassan Sajid, accepted that they had not given their Christian employees their April salaries in advance. He said this was due to a financial crunch at the KMC.

“We have released the salary for the month of March to our low-grade employees,” he said. “Due to the financial crunch, however, we will not be able to facilitate other employees on Easter.”

According to Sajid, there are eight festivities throughout the year – Ramzan, Eidul Fitr, Eidul Azha, Holi, Diwali, Christmas and Easter. He said that if they do not facilitate the Muslim and Hindu employees, how could they do so for the Christian ones.

“They work at the KMC as employees,” he said. “We treat them as employees. Not Christians, Hindus or Muslims. They should cooperate with us and try to understand that the department is facing a severe financial crisis.”

For the last two years the KMC has been going through one of the worst financial crises due to negligence from the Sindh government and bad financial decisions made by the corporation’s officials. Since 2012, many employees have been forced to celebrate Eid, Christmas and Easter without their salaries. Usually the provincial government releases a grant of roughly Rs500million for salaries, development projects and other expenditures.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2014.

Attending a get-together for survivors and patients of child cancer organised at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKU) on Friday, Rida, said she was a bit nervous when she was initially diagnosed with the disease. “I am fresh now and will continue my studies,” she said with a smile on her face. “The doctors of AKU are my inspiration and I plan to become a doctor one day.”

The annual event was arranged to encourage children who still fight the disease and aimed to enable patients and families to create support groups among themselves.

Health experts say that child cancer is curable. However, early recognition and quick referral to a specialised centre is necessary for treatment. “The chance of success is 80 to 90 per cent now,” informed paediatrician Prof Dr Abdul Ghaffar Billoo. Addressing the patients and their parents, Prof Billoo said that the hospital wants to support children with cancer in every possible manner.

Dr Zehra Fadoo, a favourite among the children attending the party, said there are about 500 children in the country with different kinds of cancer, adding that blood cancer is common among them. “Half of these patients belong to Sindh, including Karachi, and the rest of them are from other parts of the country,” she told The Express Tribune. “Early diagnosis can save the life of a child and can also reduce the economic burden on the parents.”

The children were just as fond of Dr Fadoo as she was of them. “Dr Zehra looks cute today,” commented Alishba, a six-year-old girl with blood cancer, while she sat with her sister and brother.

“She is improving now and we hope that she will defeat the disease one day,” commented Alishba’s brother, who was keenly observing those who have been cured.

Relief and joy could be seen on the faces of the parents of the children who had won the fight. “My daughter is absolutely fine now,” said one of the happiest fathers at the event, Abdul Wahid from the Sakro district of Thatta, whose daughter, 11-year-old Sajida, had a tumour that was treated successfully within just five months. “My father and doctors said I had an infection but I am okay now,” said Sajida shyly.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2014.

They demand that the government impose an education emergency in the province for the next 10 years. However, the march was not welcomed by any government representative, including the education minister, and no one was present to receive their ‘memorandum’, which the participants pasted on the assembly’s main gate.

Slogans and placards that bore messages such as ‘We want to fight for our schools’ and ‘We want to wage a war for education’ were held by the children and their parents.

The march, which started on March 16 from Sukkur and Larkana, received a warm welcome in various towns and cities of the province. “Our demands are simple,” said Vishnumal, secretary-general of the Awami Jamhori Party, which has organised the march. “We want our children to be equipped with pens rather than with bullets and guns.”

Mal said that the efforts of the party do not end with the march. “After this mega event, every central executive committee member of our party will be asked to monitor the school in their area,” he said. “We will force the teachers to attend school and if they don’t, we will stage a sit-in in front of the district education offices until the issue is resolved. We will also start a drive encouraging people to enrol their children in government schools rather than in private ones.”

Mal then went on to praise the public response that they have received. “A few of us started this historic march and now it has turned into a gathering of thousands,” he said. “We will force the government into imposing an education emergency in the country in order to improve the quality of education and prevent cheating in examinations.”

Other leaders of the party were also showered with roses for leading the march as minors, aged no more than five, shouted slogans behind their parents and applauded during the leaders’ speeches.

The participants

“Travelling hundreds of kilometres on foot is not easy,” said Naushero Feroze resident, Khadim Brohi, who has never attended school but wanted his children to receive education and asked for the restoration of his village’s only school. “However, I am not tired and want to continue. I do not want to see my children becoming farmers like me or even labourers and therefore I want them to be able to get education.”

A large number of participants shouted slogans against the government and feudal lords for destroying the country’s education system. “A son of a local Pakistan Peoples Party leader is a teacher in my village,” claimed Larkana’s Shahnaz Shaikh. “However, instead of teaching, he works as a contractor and the school hasn’t functioned in 10 years. We have no option but to fight for education.”

The march was also joined by students, educationists and activists of Karachi. An eighth-grade student of the Falcon Grammar School, Sarmad Chandio, joined the procession along with hismother. “When we heard about the march on TV, we decided to join in,” he said.

The demands

The memorandum, which was not received by any government official, demanded the declaration of education emergency in the province and to ensure a 100 per cent enrolment in public schools.

The memorandum also wanted the depoliticising of education and asked for at least two high schools in each taluka, one for boys and the other for girls.

Other demands included making all 270 technical schools of the province functional and to revise the curriculum.

“We want strict monitoring of schools with the help of citizens and induction of teachers must be done only on merit,” added the memorandum.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2014.

Maybe this was the reason that the women of his house were calm and composed. Though evidently sad and teary-eyed, they had been somewhat mentally prepared to see the day when he would be no more.

“He was a lion! A lion!” exclaimed his wife, Seemi. She was surrounded by other grieving women at their house behind Old Sabzi Mandi. “He made us all strong.”

The police officer was killed in a suicide attack on Thursday which claimed the lives of three others, including his uncle and cousin. The attack occurred at his cousin’s tailoring shop, where the suicide bomber entered and blew himself up.

Tanoli had joined the police force in 1989. During his service, he made enemies with many criminals affiliated with political parties, Lyari gangsters and militant groups.

His day started with an early rise, after which he would breakfast with the parathas his wife made especially for him. The daughter would hand him his perfume and handkerchief. The son would bid him goodbye.

For the last two weeks since his suspension from the post of Mawach Goth SHO, Tanoli had restricted himself to his home. His wife remembers the past few days as the best days of her life. “His work was everything to him,” she said. “Shafiq never had time for us but since his suspension, he was always at home with us.”

The slain police officer who had last been targeted in December 2013 had not completely recovered from the deadly blast. According to the family, he had undergone a facial surgery two days ago.

The women expressed their anger regarding Tanoli’s recent suspension, demotion and the complaints against him. “He was such a brave man,” remarked one of the relatives. “He would always lead the police teams and catch terrorists. When the department no longer had use for him, they termed him useless and discarded him.”

Another woman angrily claimed that whatever Tanoli was earning under the table, he was passing on a significant amount to his seniors. “Ask those senior officers how much they were demanding from Shafiq.” With the blast site not far from the house, the family also questioned some of the police officers, who had been appointed for their security, were deployed elsewhere around 15 days ago.

Rasheed, brother of the slain Tanoli, said that he had lost another brother to criminals. “Naveed was killed the very same day Shafiq arrested Wali Babar’s killers,” he said. “And today, they got Shafiq. Will the police wake up and arrest my brothers’ murderers?”

Chaudhry Aslam, Tanoli both meet their deaths in PIB

PIB Colony police station of the District East proved deadly for them as the two lost their lives in bombings within the same jurisdiction. Chaudhry Aslam was attacked within the remits of PIB Colony police station twice and it was the second attempt, that eventually took away his life. Similarly, Tanoli was also attacked in the same area once before and the second attack proved fatal.

The two officers had a similar way of working and is, perhaps, the reason why they worked separately. The two spared no one when it came to doing their job – from street criminals and drug peddlers to gangsters, political activists, gangsters and militants. They both had received serious threats from militants. The two were also believed to be involved in controversial extrajudicial killings.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2014.

KARACHI: A weak Latif Johar lies flat on a thin mat outside the Karachi Press Club. A doctor checks his pulse as a drip runs through it. His eyes have turned yellow. It has been several days since he last touched food yet the thought of dying does not frighten the young man.

On Tuesday, Johar, 23, entered the eighth day of his hunger strike to demand the recovery of his leader, Zahid Baloch, who is the chairperson of the Baloch Student Organisation (BSO)-Azad. “We tried all means to raise our voice about our missing people,” he said. “We protested and leaders, such as Mama Qadeer, walked on for miles. I am now doing this to highlight our plight to the world.”

Johar will not give up until Zahid is released. Since he started the hunger strike on April 22, he has lost eight kilogrammes in eight days. “I am ready to die but I won’t give up. I am on a hunger strike till death.”

His condition is deteriorating with every passing moment and he feels too weak to sit or talk. “He was not even drinking water,” said a worried supporter. “We forced him to but he throws up.”

Johar’s ‘ustaad’, Baloch activist Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur embraced him, and requested him to end the hunger strike. “I have come here to request him to end this strike. The point has been made.” But, the determined protester refused.

Johar, who belongs to Awaran, has done his BA from Turbat College. Since 2008, he has been an official member of the student organisation. “We talk about our rights and give awareness to our people. We tell them about our history.”

Several Baloch men and women are present in the tent with Johar. A senior vice-chairperson of the party, Kareema Baloch, said the decision to protest through a hunger strike was by taken by the central committee and many people volunteered for it. “If Johar is taken away or, God forbid, something happens to him, other members will step forward and take his place,” she said. “This cycle of hunger strikes will go on till Zahid Baloch is released.”

Kareema claimed she and other members of the organisation saw Zahid being led away by law enforcement agencies on the evening of March 18. “We were all at a house in Quetta where we came to know of the presence of the law enforcement agencies,” she recalled.

As they stepped outside, they saw men both in uniforms and plainclothes, questioning Zahid. They tied his hands, blindfolded him and then took him away, she said. “They told us to leave; otherwise they would shoot him,” she claimed.

Since then, there has been no news or information about Zahid. His wife and two children were also part of the protest but were sent back home by the organisation. The members urged the human rights bodies to take notice of the issue. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2014.