Moborate

Ab roshni hoti hai ke ghar jalta hai dekhain Shola sa tawaaf-e-dar-o-deewaar karay hai - Mir Taqi Mir [Will it lead to light or the house burning down, we'll have to see A spark of sorts is circling the walls of our home] Some people still don't get it. They don't understand why people like us have been so incensed over the murder of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer and the deplorable shenanigans that have followed it from those who have felt no shame and have in fact celebrated it and from those who have not come forward to condemn it in the strongest terms. They question why we are insistent on turning a worldly politician into a saint (we aren't) or why Taseer's death has taken precedence over all the other killings taking place in Pakistan (I will explain this). I read recently some comments on the journalists' mailing group PressPakistan where the convenient and insufferably lazy bogey of 'extremists on both sides' has been trotted out to explain dem...

Further evidence of the depths to which some in Pakistan have sunk. This is a short video of the Murtid Qadri being presented in court yesterday, charged with the murder of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer , where he was lauded by some lunatic lawyers, showered with rose petals, garlanded and even kissed. (Link courtesy Shahid Saeed.) This is an account of his presentation in court today  from the Express Tribune , where the lunatics once again greeted him. In addition to the lunatic lawyers, most religious   fitna parties have refused to condemn Taseer's murder, with many going out of their way to praise the "valour" of the deranged criminal. They include the so-called "sufism-inspired", "moderate" Barelvi parties (Qadri is from the Barelvi sect) who in fact have been at the forefront of defending the murder. Many in the media seem also to be hemming and hawing, refusing even to attach the word " shaheed " [martyr] to Taseer (whereas they ...

" Mera azm itna buland hai ke paraye shaulon ka dar nahin Mujhe khauf aatish-e-gul se hai, ye kaheen chaman ko jala ne de " [My resolve is so strong that I do not fear the flames from without I fear only the radiance of the flowers, that it might burn my garden down]  — Shakeel Badayuni couplet referenced by Salmaan Taseer on Twitter, 8 hours before his assassination  I had been hoping that I could post something light-hearted, more entertaining at the start to the new year, but today's Pakistan it seems is not the place for these sort of things any more. Four days into January and we already have yet another tragedy that has evoked not only pain and sadness but also immense amounts of disgust at the depths to which we, the unfortunate inhabitants of this blighted country, have sunk. Assassinated Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer: last man standing (Photo: APP/Dawn) Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer 's brutal and senseless murder in Islamabad today (Tuesday) is not only a...