Pakistan News and Analysis
Monday, September 6, 2010
Posted by iPakistan on July 31, 2009
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations warned on Thursday that one million children could have their education interrupted in areas, where conflict with the Taliban has damaged or turned schools into civilian shelters. Around 600,000 out of an estimated 2.2 … WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by iPakistan on
New Delhi, July 31 (ANI): Balawaristan National Front (BNF) chairman, Abdul Hamid Khan has said that India should involve the people of Gilgit Balistan, Chitral and Shhenaki Kohistan regions in the peace dialogue process of Kashmir. Talking to … WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by iPakistan on
KARACHI – The executive committee of the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association has picked Muhammad Sajjad and Muhammad Asif to appear in the IBSF world snooker championship to be played in Hyderabad (India) November 15-29. The president of the … WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by iPakistan on
So I was browsing the website of The News and came across a story about the City District Government of Karachi”s venture on starting a CNG bus service. How did I know this was a story about the City District Government of Karachi and their CNG bus service? Well, the headline gave me a clue, but only just:
Right then. Thanks for being so descriptive, Jang Group! I mean, really. What would be an equivalent headline on the BBC website? “US President Obama”?
Anyway, the story is actually pretty interesting. I remember a while back reading about the CNG-buses venture of uber-popular Mayor/Nazim of Karachi, Mustafa Kamal, who thought the buses would help both Karachi”s pollution problem and Karachi”s traffic problem (which, let me tell those who aren”t familiar with Karachi, are pretty appreciable problems). I also remember reading about how the transportation mafia/union (depending on your point of view) were doing all they could to stop it, for obvious reasons that rhyme with “shmottom-pline”.
Well as it turns out, the struggle is not yet over. Check out the report linked to above:
A few transporters, whose buses ply on the same route as that of the newly-inducted CNG buses of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), are attempting to block the bus service through strong-arm tactics, The News learnt on Thursday.
The drivers and conductors of two minibuses (Niaz Coach and Khan Coach) attempted to block the CNG bus service at Patel Para, Business Recorder Road on Thursday. Passengers on board one of these coaches informed The News that the operators of the coaches also attempted to force two female passengers off the CDGK bus. He said the operators of the coaches were furious and hurled brazen threats and said that either they would ply on the route or the CDGK buses would.
It was learnt that transporters are also attempting to block the CNG buses from Surjani Town where the CNG buses terminal is situated.
I find those whole thing quite tragicomically ironic. Nazim Mustafa Kamal, as we all know, is a rising (or risen, I suppose) star of the MQM, a/the Mohajir party in Pakistan. The transportation sector in Karachi, on the other hand, is controlled by Pathans. Now, Mohajirs and Pathans haven”t exactly enjoyed the warmest of relations in Karachi. In fact, their relationship has been tense for over two decades, tensions which bubbled to the surface in 1986 becaauuuuuseeee (wait for it)
…..
transportation issues!
Remember Bushra Zaidi? She was a Mohajir girl, a young student, who was run over by a speeding bus (driven, quite naturally, by a Pathan). A number of accidents had taken place due to reckless driving by buses in Karachi, and Bushra”s death was the proverbial straw that broke the camel”s back. The underlying problems between the two ethnic groups were enflamed by the incident, riots took place as Mohajirs attacked Pathan transport workers and Pathans retaliated, and about 60 people died. Not-so-coincidentally, the MQM took off in the next couple of years and became a real political force, in Sindh if not nationally.
And now we”re back. Mohajirs against Big Transport. By the way, I am not claiming that this latest episode is in any way identity-driven; it”s about economic issues and profits and market control, and not what color your skin is and what language you speak. But, as I said, it”s tragicomically ironic.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by iPakistan on
Sindh High Court on Friday adjourned the hearing of a petition till August 6 filed by City Nazim Karachi against alleged intrusion in his powers by the provincial government. A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Khilji Arif … WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by iPakistan on
With five generations of chefs in the family, many of whom have cooked for Indian royalty, the name Qureshi is almost a seal of approval when you’re talking of North Indian food, particularly kebabs. And at the festival of Punjabi food, which runs … WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by iPakistan on
PESHAWAR: Intelligence agencies have started questioning Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Sufi Mohammad and his two sons at the Peshawar Central Prison. The provincial government has barred visitors from meeting Sufi and his sons in … WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by iPakistan on July 30, 2009
Of those, the military reports 511 were killed by hostile action. Outside the Afghan region, the Defense Department reports 69 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, three were the result of hostile … WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by iPakistan on
KARACHI: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has recently signed up Discover the World Marketing as their Service Partner Offline Regions (SPOR) for seven offline cities across Pakistan. For 27 years, Discover the World Marketing has … WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by iPakistan on
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Truckers Project, a brainchild of National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), has hit snags due to bureaucratic inertia and naive approach on the part of the Ministry of Health, sources told TheNation on Wednesday. ‘The ministry … WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
