Victory at Lords

From the first session, the match was played by Pakistan boys like a well orchestrated symphony. Session after session test cricket discipline was on display. We always had flare but test cricket discipline was not our thing. Yet it was there at Lords. Every little detail seemed to have been worked out and we are talking about Pakistan Cricket Team & its management. Showing great heart on selecting a young team, sending Abbass early to play for Liescester. He adapted & learned to pitch the ball up. It worked against Ireland, it won him man of the match here. Fielding standards immaculate were right up there & much better than aging team of jaded Englishmen. Bowling was supreme & batters showed scrupulous application of patience & set merit of shot on ball rather than instinct. Something we had forgotten since our glory days of 1992 onwards success in shorter formats. Whereas, cricket followers of hundreds & thousands of hours consumed fantasizing this beautiful game know that test cricket is truly cricket. Shorter formats are commercial face of cricket introduced by smart business minds.
Back to historic victory at Lords today, except irresponsible shot by Sarfraz when his team needed him to stay & last session of third day, Pakistan dominated. Its no fluke, it was flawless execution of a well laid plan. And there is tailor-made captain in Sarfraz to make sure that organization, method, involvement & success are all interlinked.
Match was pleasure to watch right from the start till the end. I wished to appreciate the team right from first day but our past mercurial  character held me back from writing some poetic prose on the match. And we had bad history of spot-fixing & abandoned matches. Touchwood, touchwood was only thing in my head but the match concluded on same high note on which it started. Was no less than the cricketing fairytale we saw last summers in Champions Trophy.
Some soul searching for English team & focus for continuity of the effort is on the menu after modest celebrations because series is to be won or drawn which are two different results altogether.

Rebuttal 1: The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI &Illusion of Peace

Truth is somehow not synonymous with The Deep State. Hence, a Rebuttal. Enjoy the counter punch.
Excerpt from The Spy Chronicles:RAW, ISI and illusion of peace's Introduction, adroitly weaved by Ex RAW Chief, A S Daulat:

"If it’s any consolation, Pakistan is in a bigger mess than we are. The man India
put its faith in, Nawaz Sharif, is likely to be kept out of power (along with his
family) by the military when the next elections are held, likely in August 2018; the military’s preferred choice is the current PM, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, whom Mian Saheb had handpicked to replace him."

It is obvious that the book favours India's narrative which in turn is the narrative of their 'man' MNS. It feels that Gen Asad Durrani has played right into the hands of Indians or he did it on purpose? Not a good vibe from the outset about this book.

On Kashmir, and we are still at Introduction:

"As former Pakistan Foreign Secretary
Riaz Mohammad Khan acknowledged, the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack did
irreparable damage to the Kashmiri cause and tarnished Islamabad’s image as well.
Pakistan had been out of it since then, until we brought them back into the picture  in 2016".

They hear what they want to hear & they say what they like to say. The intent of this book is unfolding in calculated jibes at Pakistan's establishment. What they don't understand is that we support our Pro Pakistan Establishment & no wonder they had to take pains to write a slimy book to shake confidence of the shaky.

Now read this for Indian version of those think like India:

"As Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said in the state assembly in February 2018, with the risk of being called anti-national, there is no alternative to engagement with Pakistan. Or, as the old Kashmiri communist Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami said, seeking a ‘security solution’ to a fundamentally political problem will not succeed. At one of our meetings, Rustom Shah Mohmand, a Pakistani bureaucrat, diplomat, and a gem of a human being, remarked that Pakistan needed to put its own house in order in Balochistan before finding fault with India in Kashmir."

Note hot phrases like '"security solution' to a fundamentally political problem" & "Pakistan needed to put its own house in order". The phrases we heard repeatedly from Indianized politicians in Pakistan like NS, Mehmood Achakzai & Balich nationalists & TSM. Nothing new, all predictable propagada.

And Daulat after sheepishly assuring about his goodness of intent about the book goes on to say,
"Truth is a kaleidoscope."
No sir, its not. Truth is transparent, smooth & easy on the eye, no maze of changing colors like a kaleidoscope.

Rebuttal of Gen Asad Durrani's Introductory note. Suddenly, before leaving this world, he has starting seeing the half full part of the glass. He begins with,
"I was born an Indian".
Though he was born in Rawalpindi but there is strange sense of nostalgia in his first line & he qualifies his nostalgia with phrases like 'great divide', 'replacement of Matka with Mucca' & his fascination with cricket & Bollywood. But things changed post 71 war. Why? He is forgetting that Hindu stabbed us in the back. His dark intent was totally exposed. There is no substance to believe that given an opportunity, India will not waste a moment in further dividing Pakistan. Hindu cannot be trusted anymore. But Ex ISI Chief does. In a stunt of self-aggrandizement, he claims a spot in the league of 'strategic community' which is 'bursting with wisdom' that can hardly wait to be shared'.
There is a great air of wisdom, optimism & sense of adventure in Gen Durrani's mood which if not checked may violate certain limits like disqualified NS. Whereas, indictment lurking upon Gen Durrani in Asghar Khan case, there are few questions like:
If intent was so aboveboard, why the book couldn't the book be launched in Pakistan? Why only in India? Because it serves only their purpose.
What about timings of books like this and 'From Kargil to coup' by Nasim Zahra?
So much for Gen Durrani's service to Indians that he is denied temporary lodging in India for the launch of book.

The Royal Wedding

Spring is a great time for the royal weddings & we wish all the good things to Harry & Meghan.  Always get this feeling that something is not right about these royal weddings. Lets see if we could unearth that feeling this time. Is it Harry's 'Paki' thing but if Ahmed Raza Khan developed 'no hard feelings' why are we being grudgy about lil Harry? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/4276705/Soldier-called-Paki-by-Prince-Harry-insists-there-are-no-hard-feelings-after-apology.html
Or he was forgiven for our colonial legacy of submission? Unless youngman from Pakistan was vying to outdo Mother Tereesa, young soldiers have high self esteem & they take every insult with a pinch of salt. Who really knows but personal experience suggests that those University Grads at Sandhurst from iconic Oxfords & Cambridges only had ostentatious courtesies. Their exterior was polite & accomplished but their reality lacked it all. Back in 1998, on our first outdoor, one of my 'mates' scornfully asked me to fetch him a cup of tea  as not long ago, we had been their slaves. And I had no qualms about fetching a hot cup of tea & pourig it over his crotch, telling him that things had changed. Such racist behaviour continued till the very end & my rebuttals were never short of the mark, though by the end of the year, there were signs of genuine respect earned on professional grounds with medals & As in my bag.
Back to royal wedding. Harry is not the sweetest bit of his royal floozy highness, late Princes of Wales, who could not respect the royal wedlock but never had the guts to get out of it. Harry, at best is a royal racist rascal. Now that he weds 3 years older LA's colored divorcee from Suits, lets hope he has learnt a lesson or two on race. And we sincerely hope that 'free spirited' Meghan has learnt all the royal courtesies of how many kissess on which cheek, when to bend & when to stay quiet. Well, quiet for the most part. Her transformation seems easier because she is an actress & now she has to perform at the royal stage.
What else is not good about this royal pomp & show. Yes, carefully crafted pomp & show has an economic value to it. The coverage. The tourists (there actually are losers who spend money to attend royal pretence show), the souvenirs (20 £ minted coin, 5 £ cup with royal couple's picture on it). This is how they keep these dummies relevant & in the process, generate huge economic activity. Kudos to persistent publicity of the event. They make it sound like the royal event of the globe and more obnoxiously, some people buy this crap.
People in Britain (mostly women) fantisize this high drama of unreal spending & idiotic fairytale stuff. Those 'oohs & aahs' of British spinsters come at a price of 30 Million pounds of UK's taxpayers. As part of these theatrics, Brits look as bizzare as this whole royal wedding thing. So much for typical British high-handedness; they never fail to make fun of every other nation on God's earth but this royal bonanza & its spending spree makes an 'arse' of'em.
For a girl & a boy getting married only warrants some blessings but this is a royal affair. Its anything but simple. But we still wish them luck.

Thank You All

Thank you Modi for investing in Nawaz Sharif. It was a mistake because he was not Mujeeb ur Rehman. Not good enough, he had no Mukti Bahani, trained & supported by Indian Army.
Thank you Nawaz Sharif for coming to your true colors in hours of desperation. However, you have officially joined the club of international political tools for sale. Best bidder will buy your services like Altaf & Haqqani.
Thank you Mariam Nawaz for speeding up the process & making sure he comes to his true colors.
Thank you advisors; Pervez Rasheed, Danayal, Talal, Mariam Aurangzeb & others for agreeing & ill advising.
Thank you media for its polorization. Jung & GEO get the first prize for being loyal to India & in turn to NS. Though they minted loads of money in the process but this is their formula for growth, 'a deal with the capitalist devil'.
Special thanks to Dawn for putting behind its legacy of responsible journalism that would have not published either Dawn Leaks or Mumbai Attacks statement of Nawaz Sharif as it carries national security risk. They must have consulted national security stakeholders before printing.
Thank you Twice to little twat called Cyril Almeida of Goa. You made a name son for being twice at the heart of it for all the wrong reasons. A declared prostitute is easily accessible because her motives are known.
Thank you Judiaciary for, finally, standing up for Pakistan and making him desperate.
Thank you Peoples Party of Benazir for wrangling with this monster before Zardari factor came to your demise.
Thank you new look establishment (Army, Judiciary & NAB). It looks credible as long its Pakistan First. Needs more independent pro Pakistan institutions under this umbrella. Though IK was eager for adotion but you kept him guessing which is good for his political growth & restoration of a credible Parliament.
And finally, thank you Mossack Fonseca for making it all possible. Otherwise, he was not coming to courts & none here were capable of bringing him to the courts.
Thank you all. Have a blessed Monday.

Change in Attock may change it all

Change is such an elusive drug for a nation whose democracy keeps shuttling between kleptocracy and kakistocracy.

11 points at Minar-e-Pakistan sounded Prime-ministerial but rhetoric is one thing and deliverance is another. PTI leadership should have the stomach to absorb position of advantage that fell in their laps from heavens in Panama Papers. There will be issues concerning distribution of tickets and constituency based differences between those who will get party tickets and those left out.  How PTI leadership handles this issue and how its workforce performs before and on the day of elections will determine the outcome of General Elections 2018.

Take for example my own constituency NA 57 which after 2018 delimitation has become NA 55. PML (N)’s Whip, Sheikh Aftab Ahmed remained undefeated from NA 57 since 1990. In 2002, he could not run for the seat due to graduation degree clause. Resultantly, his son Salman Sarwar had to run but lost against Malik Amin Aslam.

Dynamics of District Attock’s politics are very interesting. Attock’s election mood is quite predictable. In 2002, Q League made a clean sweep from hitherto three NA constituencies (NA 57, 58 & 59). In 2008, Noon, Q & PPP won a seat each. In 2013, Noon bagged two and NA 59 was claimed by independent Zain Elahi son of Major (R) Tahir Sadiq.

Major (R) Tahir Sadiq is brother-in-law of Ch Shujaat Hussain and a politicoholic. He eats, drinks & sleeps politics. Not only his son is MNA from NA 59, his daughter Eman Waseem also holds the office of Chairperson District Attock. Realizing, his in-laws’ growing politically irrelevance, he continued his political struggle of family aggrandizement independently as Major Group and lately, took a leap of political faith cum opportunity and joined PTI in November 2017.

Now the tricky part begins. At the time of his joining PTI, there were three constituencies, but delimitation reduced it to two. In previous arrangement of three NA seats, it was only fair for him to claim two party tickets (for himself (NA 57 or 58) & for his son Zain in NA 59) and third one could have been dished out to longtime PTI loyalists like Malik Amin Aslam. However, there are only two seats now (NA 55 & 56).  In current scenario NA 56 should go to Major Group. Who wins PTI ticket from NA 55 and how the aggrieved party takes it will determine the outcome of this election from Attock District. A quick analysis of results of last two general elections from NA 57 (Now NA 55) suggest only one thing, if change has to take effect, PTI ticket winners and those left out have to show a big heart.  

General Elections 2008				General Elections 2013
Result	Candidate	Party	Votes	Winner	Party	Votes
Winner	Sheikh Aftab Ahemd	PML (N)	38755	Sheikh Aftab Ahemd	PML (N)	59638
Runner up	Malik Amin Aslam	IND	38392	Malik Amin Aslam	PTI	55515
2nd Runner up	Eman Waseem	IND (Major Group)	33975	Major (R) Tahir Sadiq	IND (Major Group)	50878

Now that Major Group has joined PTI, together with runner up (Malik Amin Aslam) of last two elections, they should be able to muster double the votes of Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, only if they put their personal political gains or losses on one side and abide by the party discipline. PTI leadership must also consider sensitivities of constituency politics as however strong, the Tsunamis consist of tiny droplets of water, hence, every drop matters. Whoever, Malik Amin Aslam or Major Group does not get ticket of NA 55, should be promised important advisory role at national level because both are equally capable of delivering at bigger level. Otherwise, margins have been very narrow in previous elections and Attock will keep on waiting for another five years for change. Or change in Attock may change it all.

In the end, formation of government in center is not guaranteed by big jalsas rather it all boils down to the method of constituency politics, party discipline, electioneering and performance of party workers on elections day.   

Only Allah knows the whole Truth.

Nawaz Sharif's fear of aliens

Now that he is staring down the barrel, he is spitting all his venom against Army, probably a last gasp effort of this menace called NS.He dirtied the pond of politics & his back will surely do good to the political arena. I absolutely agree with metaphor of 'mafia' used in judgement against him. His self-serving style of governance can be tolerated but his coalition with anti-Pakistan elements has been alarming. Modi coming as personal guest at Jati Umra presenting Sarhi    (ساڑھی) was symbolic when we were lifting dead bodies due to Indian Army's cease fire violations from across LOC. Jandal visit, rallying of international media behind NS, Dawnleaks all indicate towards one thing that he was just a pawn, it was always our establishment versus international establishment. Prevailing over TTP & restoration of relative peace along western borders plus improvement of internal security, top-down corruption crackdown & Army's strict restrain from taking over executive powers of the country despite  NS' vigourous attempts for political martyrdom was all too much for them to take. With CPEC, Pakistan gains geo-startegic weight in the region. Russia is knocking on our doors. Change is around the corner. But there will be turbulence. Hazara community is again on target to vent sectarian unrest/ violence, sporadic fire & suicidals incidents, formation of PTM & international media along with NS & his idelogical friends in Achakzais, Bazinjos & Fazl ur Rehmans patronizing PTM are all weak attempts to destabalize Pakistan. Now we have become nerve hardy. Hopefully, this should be the last assault of NS on his own countrymen before he is pushed in to oblivion of irrelevance. Something that would be very hard for him to live with, specially when his daughter is also about to book a berth in Adiyala. However, international established can hit back with much harder force with a new pawn like NS. After all, reason for woes of NS could be that he never fully understood the power of loyalty to his nation and continued to fool the nation with false alarms & fears of aliens. Though in the end, his corruption had him yet continues to be exposed as a snake up our sleeves.
Only Allah knows the whole truth.