An untold love story

It was year………..,

Well no one exactly remembers what year it was.

But yes the story is known.

Not to all.

The story is known to very few, very few people. But it has a lesson, a moral. Come on we all have been reading Tarzaan and Umer-o-ayyar our entire childhood with same old good guy , bad guy climax. This one at least has something which is of more use to us.

The story is of a young boy, Ahmed.

And like all other stories where all boys are heroes.

Ahmed is a dumb boy, though he is over handsome, kind of rich as his father owns a lot, plus drives a good car. Girls in his neighbor grades him as an overall a hero type man, but this particular story makes him dumb, relatively.

Why he is a dumb boy ???

You will get your answer.

And since we all know that no story ends without a feminine entry.

So here it is, Naila. The cute, lovely, and adorable…………………….Naila.

Unlike Ahmed she is intelligent, wise and yes little shy. Like all the other Asian girls. (Sorry folks the incident took place in Pakistan, Yes the emerging world power).
Unfortunately both of them are cousins. Yes, real cousins. 
And like are typical cousins wala masla, Ahmed likes Naila. But there is something which Ahmed is unaware of. 
Naila also likes Ahmed, tataaaaaa!!

And they soon got happily married. 

PS. Every story doesn't has to have a sickened sad end. There are happy stories around us. 

LIFE HAS TO GO ON..!!

Wow !!

What a lovely evening it is. Look at the sky, I never noticed that even in Karachi the sky can be so clear and yes it’s blue. Look the scattered clouds on sky and the sun hiding behind them and this cool sea breeze, what a blessing it is.

It was though an ordinary Sunday of March but only a young cadet on short leave can have such feelings for a weather in which he had been living from his childhood. Stagnant weather of Karachi never charmed any one except the cadets of naval academy who proceed on short leave on Sundays. So even if you will find a cadet roaming around in scorching sun light on a short leave, he will tell you the same lines that how charming the life is out here.

It was his first short leave after forty days of intense hard training and he did his best to qualify his preliminary swimming and saluting test to get this short leave. Few hours out of naval academy were like he was suddenly in heaven out of hell.

“Independence is such a blessing”

Uttering these words he went down stairs, out of his home.

“I guess having ice cream in such an evening would be a great idea”.

He went off to a near by medical and general store. Al-shifa medical and general store was little extra crowdie today. Since his child hood he had this basic instinct of staring and exploring things. But in that store there was something different today. There were signs of worries on his fore head, his big black eyes never narrowed with such anxiety.

“YA ALLAH”

These were the only words which came to his mind at that moment. There were around 15-20 people of different age group in that medical store, busy in for what they were there but he was amazed that no one noticed what he did.

“so we call our selves as human beings, may be robots are better then us”

He thought

May be what he was seeing was quite normal, something very ordinary, But not for him.

She was bare foot, wearing black large chaddar which was torn out from different places but still her face and head was covered.

“she is coughing very severely, but why is she out then if she is so much ill”

her eyes, how hurting it was to look at them. At times you really find your heart heavy and painful, pain just not for writing but the real pain. His heart was heavy and yes he felt pain in it just because he had a glance at those eyes telling a long story of suffering and misery.

……………..

Her plight was quite evident form her face but at the same time she appeared to be quite timid.

“Shall I ask her for any help which in case I may rent to her?”

“No, I guess she belongs to that breed of human beings who can die in hunger but their self respect never allows them to go out and scream for help”

Her young child was constantly pulling her Kurta and was constantly projecting his hands towards the giant fridge of drinks, uttering in a low, innocent and mournful voice

“ami ….juice …..ami …ami ”

His voice slowly died out, the silence of her mother made him clear that his desire will not be fulfilled.

“That is not for us, it has been made for the ruthless and rich bunch of people around you”

He thought she wanted to say this to her child but he was too young to understand that human beings have classes …and they belong to the poor class.

But he could overlook the tears in the eyes of that young child. He quickly went across to the counter and whispered to Qasim bhai.

“Qasim bhai what ever that women takes, charge her only with 25% of the money and give her a packet of juice with a gesture that its free with the medicine you took”

For an instance Qasim bhai gave him a weird look

“Obviously am going to pay the rest, don’t worry for that”

He started following her. It was not something he was doing intentionally, he even didn’t have any reason for what he was doing, but still he couldn’t stop himself. His feet seem to be no more under his control.

It was a long walk.

“She has got nice stamina, I wonder how am going to go back”

They crossed different streets, they turned many rights, many lefts, crossed many intersections

“Shit I lost my north”

 He didn’t know in which direction they were going. This colony where ever they were was quite randomly constructed. He was quite badezelled by the way the people were living in that place.

At last she stopped in front of a small corroded steel gate and went inside.

“She didn’t even lock her home”

Locks serve to people who have homes, and this structure does not seem to be one.

Every inch of that place added to her grief-stricken condition, though the place was not more then few inches. Dirt and filth around the corroded steel gate added to the misery of that place.

He lifted his right hand to knock the door.

“But what am I going to do”

He kept standing there, still thinking.

Suddenly he noticed that the sun had completely dawned and his surrounding was as dark as the life in that place. He looked at the narrow passage which he had followed to come to that place.

“I don’t have much time, short leave will expire in next couple of hours and I have a boat to catch”

While standing at Kemari jetty waiting for his boat he thought that there are hundreds of such stories around us, thousands of such young women with dreadful tales of lives and millions of young children dying of hunger.

“Despite of all this, life never stops”

Boat from Pakistan naval academy left the jetty after the cadets hastened into it. It was again heading back towards the academy. After all

“Life has to go on ” 

LEARN AND LIVE

Work ethics

Aey Musalmaan!

Are you one of those who always find it difficult to develop loving affair with their office bosses and working environment!

 Despite of a long working career by now, I have still failed to understand or learn how to be in good books of my bosses. I seriously don’t understand “Boss ko patatay kaisay hain yar”!!

   Every time when I feel that am doing good and people are happy around me, a clock in my mind start tickling hard, and I feel that every passing second is nearing my annual leave. So somehow I gather the entire strength, take a deep breath, hold my neck high and

 “Excuse me sir”

And before boss’s slow and obsolete processor interprets what I have just said, I enter his office, assuming that the answer would definitely had been

“Yes, come in”!

Today, it was the day…finally am going to ask him for a leave! And my ever wish of a leisure trip to northern areas, with an amazing group which am sure am going to find and in that too I will meet someone whom I had always seen in my dreams ……just like in movies….wow….Bullshit!!

It was my boss.

“What kind of bullshit is this”!

“Abdullah, I think you should look into this. Ahmed is new and he is not getting things right. Next week the foreign delegation is coming and we need to get ourselves geared up”!

‘Yes Sir ’, I could not say anything else.

While working on that ‘Bullshit’ which my boss assigned me to clean up for him, I was wondering that how on the earth he came to know that am planning for a leave.

‘He definitely knew it, and had nothing better than this crap to do away with my little wish of leave’….ohhhh my love, again I failed to reach you!

And now what am going to tell people around me who often ask me, ‘aur bhai…shadi wadi kar li k nae?’

‘Nae yar, bas abi talash e gumshuda jari hai’, my pet answer with a stupid smile.

And at this moment I realized that how much I hate doing work.

Any how I did not have enough time and was to submit my work before the end of the say, so I quickly turned on my laptop, placed on a serious and annoying look on my face, Plugged in my headphones into my laptop and there it goes. 

I saw my colleagues in the praying area, tired looks on their faces and shoulder tilted down as if they are carrying tones of load.

And of course my body language was not very different.

What ?

You don’t expect me to be energetic and fresh after such hard work of 1:30 hr!

To be continued…………..

F4 phantom USAF critical induction

What made the F-4 Phantom special? In the 1950s, McDonnell Aircraft began the development of what was once described as one of the greatest fighters of the post-World War II era. Originally developed as an attack aircraft with four 20mm guns, the F-4 Phantom evolved into an advanced – yet gun-less – all-weather interceptor that was equipped with advanced radar and missile armament. Just thirty-one months after its first flight it was adopted by the United States Navy in 1961 – becoming the service’s fastest, highest-flying, and longest range fighter.

Soon after, the aircraft was adopted by the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force. The tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber proved to be ideally suited to the military’s needs during the Cold War.

It was well armed, and could carry more than 18,000 pounds (8,400 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs. Later models also incorporated the M61 Vulcan rotary cannon to give the warbird a bit more firepower. The aircraft was also equipped with Westinghouse APQ-72 radar, IR detector in a small fairing under the nose.

The aircraft had numerous colorful nicknames, including the “Spook,” “Flying Brick,” “Double Ugly,” “Rhino” and “Big Iron Sled.” However, it was officially named Phantom II on July 3, 1959, during a ceremony held at the McDonnell plant in St. Louis, Mo., to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary

However, over time, the numeral “II” had been discontinued; the F-4 had become the only Phantom.

It F-4 took part in multiple combat operations during the Vietnam War. The Air Force sent its first F-4Cs to Southeast Asia in 1965, where they conducted air-to-air missions against North Vietnamese fighters as well as attacking ground targets. In its air-to-ground role, the F-4C could carry twice the normal load of a WWII B-17.

The F-4 Phantom II remained in service throughout the Cold War and even took part in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq before being retired by the U.S. military in 1996.

AI based Hypersonic missile development

 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has developed Artificial Intelligence that would help it in building a hypersonic missile in what could be a big breakthrough in America’s hypersonic program.

A hypersonic missile being developed in the US is supposed to make use of a technology known as ‘scramjet’ or ‘supersonic combustion ramjet’ to make optimum use of fuel, reach hypersonic speed, and cause maximum devastation on impact, as the use of traditional, heavy rockets and spacecraft limit its application.

The scramjet uses extremely effective thrust mechanisms to achieve much faster speeds, and it can be manufactured in a size much smaller, lighter, and with a longer range than traditional rockets. This is where the role of Artificial Intelligence comes in the development of a hypersonic missile.

This AI may build a hypersonic missile that is significantly faster and has a wider range than any other in the world, propelling the United States to the forefront of the military arms race. All they have to do now is apply this AI to the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept tested recently, load it up with explosives, and take off.

NASA is said to have developed artificial intelligence (AI) capable of optimizing missiles for maximum range and destruction. It has developed an AI that can use the results of a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) to optimize and work around an effective design of a scramjet missile.

Pak china cooperation in sorghum

 Sorghum is an excellent source of food and feed and plenty of products can be made from it therefore, there are ample opportunities for the sorghum industry in Pakistan and help of China would definitely improve the local economy.

mutual cooperation between the two countries can be strengthed by long-term and short-term cooperation, seeking the future opportunities for expansion of sorghum production, export and development in Pakistan. There is a need to take advantage of Chinese technology and experience under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in this field.

Since China is a major importer of sorghum grain for manufacturing of various products, there is plenty room to expand the export of the commodity to China. Secondly, the quality of sorghum grain produced in Pakistan for processing and extraction of different products is far better than that of other countries.

USA scholarship without GRE

 1# Fulbright Scholarships in USA

Fullbright Scholarship is a Fully Funded Scholarship in USA. You can apply for a Master & Ph.D. Degree Programs. Applicants having all Nationalities are eligible. 4,000 International Students will get Fulbright Scholarship in the United States at U.S Universities.

2# The CIRES Summer 2022 Research Program in USA

This internship program is for Undergraduate and Graduate Candidates who have an interest in research. Candidates will get a chance to do research at the University of Colorado Boulder. No IELTS & TOEFL necessary. The CIRES Summer 2022 Research Program in USA will select more than 10 students around the globe. Duration is 10 To 12 Weeks.

3# Woods Hole Internship 

International Internship is for Undergraduate Students from All Across the World. Students having Any Nationality can apply for this Paid International Internship. Selected participants will spend 10 to 12 weeks with world-class scientists. Food, Meal, Visa, Monthly Allowance & Accommodation expenses are covered by the American Government.

4# LPI Summer Internship

The LPI Summer Internship is a Fully Funded Paid International Internship for all students from around the world of any nationality. There is No Application Fee Required. During the 10-week internship, students have the opportunity to participate in enrichment activities, including NASA Johnson Space Center scientific visits, lectures, and career development workshops.

5# World Bank Internship

Applications for World Bank Summer Internship in USA 2022 are open. All Applicants from any Nationality can apply for WB Internship for its Summer Term. World Bank is a Famous International bank. No Academic Course Restriction for doing the World Bank Summer Internship.

6# IREX Community Exchange program

Applications are invited to apply for the IREX Community Engagement Exchange Program in USA 2022. This Program is Funded by the IREX & approximately 80 Participants will participate this year.

7# RIPS Summer Program in USA

RIPS International Summer Internship program in the United States of America is a much famous & prestigious Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunity. This is a Fully Funded Internship For International Students. Applicants having Any Nationality can apply for this USA Internship. Spend Summer in USA. Students will get a chance to work with a Huge Talented Team.

8# SMART Scholarship

The scholarship is for Bachelor’s, Masters and Ph.D., Degree. This Scholarship is a great example of a dynamic student. Students from All over the world can apply.The SMART Program provides STEM Students with the Tools Needed to Pursue Higher Education and begin a Career with the DoD.

9# Bill Gates Scholarship in USA

Bill Gates announced 300 Bill Gates Scholarships in the United States.  Bill Gates Scholarship Program 2022 is open for Undergraduate degrees for international students. Bill Gates has announced 300 Scholarships For All National Holders. Anyone having Any Academic Background can apply for these 300 USA Scholarships.

10# GOOGLE Scholarship

A Big Opportunity From Google is announced in the Last Months about 100,000 Fully Funded Google Scholarships. Google is giving 100,1000 Scholarships for International students to earn the Highest Salary.

Zumwalt: us navy stealth destroyer

Zumwalt-classAn artist rendering of the Zumwalt class destroyer DDG 1000, a new class of multi-mission U.S. Navy surface combatant ship designed to operate as part of a joint maritime fleet, assisting Marine strike forces ashore as well as performing littoral, air and sub-surface warfare.

The Zumwalt-Class Destroyer Fell Short of Expectations – The United States Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyer was billed as the future of naval warfare. Designed to incorporate brand new stealth technology, and brand-new weapons systems, the Zumwalt was to replace the aging Arleigh Burke-class. Initially, the Navy was scheduled to procure 32 Zumwalts. But the program went rampantly overbudget while the new ship performed below expectations. The Navy withdrew support, asking Congress to stop procuring Zumwalts and instead build more of the familiar, reliable Arleigh Burke destroyers. Congress obliged and only three Zumwalts were ever delivered

Zumwalt-classAn artist rendering of the Zumwalt class destroyer DDG 1000, a new class of multi-mission U.S. Navy surface combatant ship designed to operate as part of a joint maritime fleet, assisting Marine strike forces ashore as well as performing littoral, air and sub-surface warfare.

The Zumwalt-Class Destroyer Fell Short of Expectations – The United States Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyer was billed as the future of naval warfare. Designed to incorporate brand new stealth technology, and brand-new weapons systems, the Zumwalt was to replace the aging Arleigh Burke-class. Initially, the Navy was scheduled to procure 32 Zumwalts. But the program went rampantly overbudget while the new ship performed below expectations. The Navy withdrew support, asking Congress to stop procuring Zumwalts and instead build more of the familiar, reliable Arleigh Burke destroyers. Congress obliged and only three Zumwalts were ever delivered. 

The Zumwalt was an ambitious project, full of innovative technology. For starters, the Zumwalt was a stealth ship. Despite being 40 percent larger than the Arleigh Burke, the Zumwalt has a radar cross-section (RCS) comparable to a fishing boat. The key to such a deceptive RCS is the Zumwalts hull design. The Zumwalt’s hull grows narrower above the waterline, in a tumblehome style. The tumblehome was common on wooden warships and had a flare of popularity with steel warships in the late 19th century. But when three of four Russian tumblehome battleships were lost in the Russo-Japanese War, the design was declared ineffective for modern warfare and fell out of style for nearly one hundred years. Now, stealth-seeking modern navies are reintroducing the shape to meet low-RCS requirements. 

In addition to the tumblehome design, the Zumwalt has a composite deckhouse, which encases the ship’s sensory and electronic equipment in low RCS material. Between the tumblehome hull and the composite deckhouse, the Zumwalt’s RCS is about 50 times harder to detect on radar than older destroyers. And the Zumwalt is quiet—with an acoustic signature more similar to a Los Angeles-class submarine than a surface warship.     

However, the applicability of the Zumwalt’s stealth has been called into question. The Zumwalt was designed to provide Naval Surface Fire Support with a focus on land attacks. So, the Zumwalt was meant to operate in typically crowded, near-shore waters where ships can be tracked visually. And the Zumwalt, naturally, was intended to fire its impressive arsenal—meaning, that once the ship started firing, its stealth properties would be compromised. .

Yj21 Chinese Anti ship ballistic missile

 Hi, What Are You Looking For?

China’s YJ-21 Anti-Ship Missile Test Warns Washington: Taiwan Isn’t Ukraine – China’s test of a new anti-ship missile may be sending America a message: Taiwan isn’t Ukraine.

Chinese leaders may fear that Ukraine’s success in frustrating Russia’s invasion – partly based on military aid from NATO nations – will encourage Taiwan into believing that U.S. support will allow it to defeat a Chinese invasion.

“Beijing is worrying that the unlimited U.S. military assistance to Ukraine and a recent American congressional group tour to Taiwan might make Taipei believe Washington may provide the same help in the event of a conflict between the mainland and Taiwan,” Chinese military expert Zhou Chenming, told the South China Morning Post.

As a matter of military technology, attention will be paid to the video of the mysterious YJ-21 anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM), released by the Chinese government for the first time. Perhaps more notable was that the YJ-21 – or Eagle Strike 21 – was launched from a new Type 055 cruiser. China already has land-based anti-ship ballistic missiles – the notorious DF-21 and DF-26 “carrier killer” weapons – as well as an air-launched ASBM on the H-6 bomber.

Not surprisingly, these ASBMs deeply worry the U.S. Navy. With ranges of more than a thousand miles, they soar high into the atmosphere before releasing a warhead at hypersonic (faster than Mach 5) speed that may be too fast for shipboard anti-missile defenses to stop.

An ASBM capable of being launched by surface ships would be a powerful weapon. Unlike land-based missiles that are fixed platforms, or aircraft with limited range and vulnerability to bad weather, surface ships provide mobile launch platforms. An ASBM-equipped Chinese task force, for example, could penetrate into the Indian Ocean, or into the South Pacific to threaten Australia. Mounted on the 13,000-ton Type 055, a heavily armed destroyer that is actually bigger than a U.S. Navy Aegis cruiser, the YJ-21 could threaten U.S. and coalition ships across the Pacific. 

Using social media Applications

A FRENCH SOCIAL media platform launched by Alexis Barreyat in 2020, BeReal is attracting dedicated users on US college campuses after gaining popularity overseas. Essentially, BeReal sends users a prompt at a random time each day, urging them to snap a picture and send it to their friends. You only have two minutes to respond, and a two-image collage is captured from your front and back cameras. has been declared dead multiple times, and BeReal capitalizes on a continuing quest for authenticity on social media, whatever that means. The company has received millions of dollars from investors likeAndreessenHorowitz, a prominent player in Silicon Valley that has thrown cash at Clubhouse, OpenSea, and Substack in recent years. In February, Harvard student Mariah Norman declared photo dumps on Instagram a passé endeavor so mainstream that the president does it. She was enamored by the unfiltered feed on BeReal and wrote, “Because there’s no time to find that perfect pose or background, the content you engage with on the app is charmingly mundane yet extraordinarily authentic and creative.” Norman also mentioned that BeReal sponsored a party with free admission for Harvard students who interacted with the app.

Global warming

 

Global warming

John Houghton

Reports on progress in physics 68 (6), 1343, 2005

'Global warming'is a phrase that refers to the effect on the climate of human activities, in particular the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) and large-scale deforestation, which cause emissions to the atmosphere of large amounts of'greenhouse gases', of which the most important is carbon dioxide. Such gases absorb infrared radiation emitted by the Earth's surface and act as blankets over the surface keeping it warmer than it would otherwise be. Associated with this warming are changes of climate. The basic science of the'greenhouse effect'that leads to the warming is well understood. More detailed understanding relies on numerical models of the climate that integrate the basic dynamical and physical equations describing the complete climate system. Many of the likely characteristics of the resulting changes in climate (such as more frequent heat waves, increases in rainfall, increase in frequency and intensity of many extreme climate events) can be identified. Substantial uncertainties remain in knowledge of some of the feedbacks within the climate system (that affect the overall magnitude of change) and in much of the detail of likely regional change. Because of its negative impacts on human communities (including for instance substantial sea-level rise) and on ecosystems, global warming is the most important environmental problem the world faces. Adaptation to the inevitable impacts and mitigation to reduce their magnitude are both necessary. International action is being taken by the world's scientific and political communities. Because of the need for urgent action, the greatest challenge is to move rapidly to much increased energy efficiency and to non-fossil-fuel energy sources.

Pakistan PTI and Imran khan

 It has been a long time since I've argued with anyone. I used to be opinionated and vocal, but life's push and shove has taught me that neither am I all-knowing nor is it worth my time to become entangled in confrontations. I have opinions, but I keep them to myself. In fact, mostly I wonder if I'm even right about anything.

This last week has tested my resolve to avoid confrontation. I'm not stooping to disrespect but I admit I've been uncharacteristically vocal. Exhausted, I am forced to question myself: Why? Why this intense need to express, defend, sometimes attack? Introspection has brought the understanding that I must not stay neutral, I can not afford to exclude myself anymore, and that it is really about one tiny thing: how the events of a gut-wrenching week have made me FEEL.

I was speaking with my dear friend Ruby Saleem today. We are both PAF brats, brought up on "PAF ration" as my dad would proudly say. Ruby's husband, also a PAF brat, used to quip "Hamarey baap ki Air Force hai!", literally. Ruby's father and mine served together for many years. Her mother who died young taught my mom, a new PAF bride, how to stitch and crochet. My father flew missions in 3 operations, was awarded Sitara e Jurat in 1965 and is a celebrated PAF hero. All their lives, our parents enjoyed a warm and loving relationship. Ruby's generation and mine nurtures boundless love for the Pakistan Air Force. When we think family, we conjure up the "Blue”; PAF is family. 

Ruby's husband Saleem Nawaz and my Razi attained shahadat together. She was left with four children as was I. Saleem Bhai and Razi were buried on the same day, next to each other, in Islamabad.  Common citizens lined the streets from Chaklala to Islamabad as their janaza passed, many crying openly. There were upwards of 75,000 people at the prayer, I was told; unknown people who had nothing to do with us. Someone said, "We buried our Chief, Mushaf Ali Mir, in Lahore and here we bury two future Chiefs - Saleem Nawaz and Rizwanullah Khan - together. What a loss, what a sad day for PAF". 

Thus, Ruby and I have a bond beyond friendship, into shared history and indescribable tragedy, and I imagine we will find a way to happily die together.

Ruby is livid, and I'm pretty sad too. I asked her "Rubaji, I didn't feel this helpless when Razi left me. Did you, when Saleem Bhai went?". "No Seemi" she said confidently. "They were soldiers, shahadat was their desire and destiny. We married them knowing this, didn't we? And we are shaheeds' wives, not widows - wives. Why would we feel helpless? Allah has promised to look after our children, shaheed ke sadqey". And look after them Allah has - all 8 of them happy, strong, good human beings living their lives not seeking pity or favor, holding their heads high because their fathers served with pride and died honorably. 

"A good death is its own reward" someone said. Ruby and I, and hundreds like us, have attained Sabr through this philosophy.  

So why this angst, this helplessness, this desperate feeling of being cheated, betrayed, being utterly and permanently humiliated, now when our Qayamat has passed and we have survived? We should be content and relieved that our Azmaish is nearly over, and whatever disgusting, miserable events are coming to pass, what does it matter to us? We are protected, physically and spiritually. 

I have tried to deconstruct the emotional upheaval I am experiencing and have arrived at the great #mayaangelou’s wise words.

Losing the most beloved beings in our lives, our children orphaned, our parents devastated and our lives uprooted had a direct bombing like impact upon us. We were destroyed and reconstruction seemed impossible. The air crash could have been due to any reason - pilot error, machine malfunction, inclement weather, a conspiracy to kill - it didn't matter. We blamed neither God nor the PAF; we were content that theirs was a good death, and that they had tasked us to bring up their children. We were on a mission and focused on our true north - becoming worthy of the sacrifice they were honored with. We were Dukhi - permanently, but we felt cheated - NEVER. The FEELING prevailed, circumstances simply existed, inconsequential and unintimidating. We have lived our lives proudly as shaheeds' families, have not considered our situation a favor to the nation, and we are better human beings for it.

Then, last week happened.

#PrimeMinisterImranKhan was not a perfect leader and is not a flawless man, even if Ruby and I (and crores of others) believe that he was the best we could be blessed with. Much can be debated about his achievements and missteps. But here's the thing; never once did he make us feel that our loss was insignificant or forgotten. What he said didn't matter, what he did didn't matter - how he made us FEEL mattered. We felt we mattered, and that's a powerful feeling for shaheeds' families. 

We would've accepted his ouster in an election, through any lawful, transparent, non-conspiratorial process. Let us go a step further; we may have even accepted that such unethical, illegal crap happens. No matter; kick him out, call an election and let him contest fair and square. This would be frustrating, but not humiliating.

We are now left with murderers, money launderers, land grabbers, liars and thieves, rapists and pretenders, cowards who have no empathy with the nation. Ill-informed citizens like me stating the obvious may catch criticism, but records and evidence tell us the same and more. Criminals are sworn in to the highest offices of Pakistan on the day they were to be indicted. Convicted murderers are welcomed home from abscondment with garlands and facilitated by government officials. The cowardly Nawaz hustles back to Pakistan while he ran scared earlier bearing false witness. The honorable courts throw their doors open for criminals in the middle of the night while they never wake up to people's plight. What Armageddon is this? 

Then, the heartbreaking rumors that my beloved institution, the one that has fed me and protected me, that I have held dear all my life, the one that I entrusted my Razi to - the military - may have engineered this? I felt as if Abbi and Ammi had died all over again, leaving me desolate and vulnerable. I don't believe it, it is beyond my wildest expectations, I would rather die than believe this. Is it so? Tell me it's not!

Ruby cries profusely, and I admit I've been crying a lot too. We hold unwavering faith and trust in #ImranKhan; he is incorruptible and his heart beats for his people - us. He is a courageous man and doesn't need our protection. Maybe his destiny too is shahadat; we give him in Allah's protection. 

But the rest, we can not forgive. We are cheated and humiliated, and more so if our own colluded to bring this upon us. Saleem Bhai and Razi, my hero father and my PoW father-in-law, Mushaf Ali Mir and Rashid Minhas, Sarfaraz Rafiqui and Mervyn Middlecoat, and so many other gracious souls wasted their lives in selfless service. They should have lived so that we could remain whole, so that my 3 year old Bilal could remember his father and my 17 year old Taimur not be burdened with responsibilities, so that my Andaleeb and Sabine could rush into their father's strong, protective embrace every time the world tried to hurt them. 

So that Ruby and I would not have spent the best years of lives alone, in love with dead people. 

That odious, pretentious criminal called me a "beggar". As a 16 year old starting university in the US, I worked to make my semester fee and never asked my parents. As a PAF wife, I held down a demanding career while juggling my PAF duties. At the most daunting hour of my life, with a husband lost and four children to bring up, I took nothing from anyone other than the rightful pension due to me from the PAF which, too, was donated to RizScholars and never found its way into my household expenses. I went to work at 16 and, at 61, I am still working. My children imbibe their work ethic from me, the young people I work with look up to me, my learned colleagues across the world hold me in the highest regard. What have I to show for a life, lived with as much courage and grace as I could muster, but my self-respect which I have kept intact despite a shattered heart? 

I am not a beggar! How dare that bumbling, incompetent wretch make me FEEL like one.

I imagine the same reason has riled up the nation to the unprecedented groundswell that we are witnessing. The evil, unholy alliance is shocked, caught by surprise and scurrying about for damage control. The spin doesn’t seem to be working. Why? 

Because It doesn't matter who did what, when, and with whom; it matters how they have made us FEEL. 

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Jammu and Kashmir status and article 370

 This post explains some of the controversies surrounding the recent revocation of the special constitutional status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir under article 370 of India’s Constitution, and the repeal of article 35A, which had allowed the state to define permanents residents of the state and certain special rights and privileges attached to such residency. It also includes a brief historical background of the dispute, the legal steps taken to revoke the special status, and legal challenges to that decision.

Prior to British India gaining independence in 1947 and the partitioning of the region into the dominions of India and Pakistan, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was one of the 565 princely states that were not under the direct control of the British colonial administration and retained a great degree of autonomy to manage their own affairs (except in the area of defense and foreign relations).

The process of partitioning British India was governed by the 1947 Indian Independence Act. Princely states were not directly incorporated in either dominion, and section 7(1)(b) of the Act provided that “suzerainty of His Majesty” over these states had lapsed and its powers had been returned back to them. They were theoretically granted the option to stay independent or accede to either dominion. However, as described in one journal article, “without British forces available for their defense, independence was not a real option for the princely states, many of which were quite small. The states were encouraged by then-Viceroy Lord Mountbatten to accede to one dominion or the other” and did so based on their geographical position, religious identity, or other factors. The ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, was wavering between acceding to either dominion and choosing to remain independent and neutral at the time, as noted in another article:

Maharaj Hari Singh in Kashmir inherited a unique conundrum: he was a Hindu, but held dominion over a Muslim majority. In addition, his was the only princely state bordering both India and the newly born Pakistan, giving rise to the possibility of accession to either nation. Further complicating the already tense birth of two nations was Maharaj Hari Singh’s open discussion of an independent Kashmir, which only served to confuse and delay the question of the state’s accession.

However, after an uprising against the ruler in Poonch and an invasion by a Pathan tribal militia from Pakistan, Maharaja Singh decided to turn to India for military assistance and executed an Instrument of Accession to India. The accession was executed with the expectation that a plebiscite or referendum would be conducted to determine the final status of the state.

Eventually, regular Pakistani troops became involved and a direct conflict between the two new countries arose until a UN-brokered ceasefire was signed on January 1, 1949. Later that same year a ceasefire line was agreed upon. The northern and western part of the former princely state was administered by Pakistan as Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas (now known as Gilgit-Baltistan), and the state of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India. In 1965, Pakistan and India went through a second war over the status of Jammu and Kashmir, but by the end of the conflict the status quo 1949 ceasefire line was maintained. Terms for a plebiscite could not be agreed to by either side and, by 1954, India dropped the option for a plebiscite.

Some territorial gains in the Kashmir region were made by India in 1971 during the war between the two countries over the secession of East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), which ended with the signing of the Simla Agreement on July 2, 1972. The Agreement stipulated that the countries are to “settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations” and prohibited either country from “unilaterally alter[ing] the situation.” Moreover, the 1949 ceasefire line became the line of control – a de facto border between the areas controlled by the respective countries.

Over the years, the region has been embroiled in many border skirmishes, a high altitude war in 1999 (known as the Kargil conflict) between the countries, and a Pakistan-supported insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir that has existed since 1988. Currently, the Indian government asserts that Jammu and Kashmir is an “integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India” and any dispute with Pakistan should be resolved bilaterally. Pakistan, on the other hand, takes the position that India’s recent actions are a “violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions on Kashmir and bilateral Pakistan-India agreements, such as the 1972 Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration” and wishes to internationalize the dispute in a global forum.