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Day 246 – Kashmir day

Published on February 3, 2008 in India, Politics and Thinking mood. 0 Comments

Today was holidays – the “day of solidarity with people of Kashmir (and Jammu)”. We went out to the city and (like its so often) I had some really weird sights…

Huge banners in Urdu and English have been placed around the city. Talking about heroes, enemies, not much abound friendship, peace or agreement… Its hard to understand such an approach, but let me say a few things for You about this valley…

The whole problem started with the Partition of British Raj India into India and Pakistan in 1947. The history behind this is really interesting, but at this moment all You need to know is that the muslims from India under the leadership of Jinnah have succeeded to persuade the British that its inevitable to create a separate Muslim state. Till today most Indians think it was not needed…

But anyways, the British said OK – each province of India (something like a mini-state) can choose if they want to be part of Pakistan or India. The problem was that in Kashmir the ruler was Hindu, but most of people were Muslim, so he decided to try to stay independent, i.e. not to choose… This made the muslims from new forming Pakistan pissed off (as they thought he could want to join India, who had more resources to offer) and sent army to kick the rulers out – and seeing that the rulers of course announced that Kashmir and Jammu want to join India…

Btw, the British would have never accepted K+J being independent, they didnt even agree with Bengal=Bangladesh be separeted and agreed only on its separation only if it is part of Pakistan!

Now the problem was that the leadership of India had an official document stating that K+J want to join India (that document got lost and nobody knows where is it) and thats why India has sent its troops to “protect” K+J. Only a UN-backed negotiation has stopped a full-scale war and has set a cease-fire line – which defacto became the border. India at that time promised that a census – referendum will be held in K+J where the people will decide whom they want to join… That census never happened… The leaders of India at that time felt that K+J are their “homeland” and thus never intended on giving the region to Pakistan.

Since that war, one more war between Pakistan and India about Kashmir took place, the result was actually a return to original cease-fire line. Part of it were troops trained and financed by Pakistan regimes that were supposed to stir revolution in Kashmir. They failed… This war made Zulfikar Bhutto become a hero, for his fight with words (as foreign minister) against India.

As a matter of fact, the area is partly disputed also by China, but Pakistan to strenghten its position against India made a border agreement with China and thus doesnt have conflicts with it. It should be also said that the disputed region is the size of Slovak and Czech republic combined.

To finish up the thing:
- both Indians and Pakistanis feel that Kashmir and Jammu are part of their country
- in light of the proclamation of Kosovo independence its possible to consider Kashmir pronouncing itself independent (as it did in the 60s), but nobody would support that.. as one of my friend ironically noted: “we want them to be free… under Pakistani rule”. And K+J has not enough infrastructure and will among people to become an independent state
- historically during Partition there was a district of India, that had mostly Hindu inhabitants, but leadership was Muslim, that proclaimed itself part of Pakistan (despite being fully surrounded by want-to-be-india districts), Indian troops kicked the leadership out… but it was MUCH smaller than K+J…but according to a (current) map of Pakistan I have, it is shown as part of Pakistan

picture for comparison… CR+SR=15 mio people
Pakistan = 180 mio people
disputed region (K+J) = 10 mio people

Day 245 – is todays world really that BAD?

Published on February 2, 2008 in Politics and Thinking mood. 0 Comments

Man has a short memory – I guess mostly because his life is short… and he is never satisfied, things should always be better and they are always better in style of “the grass at neighbours lawn is always greener”  or “when I was young that would never happen “. People always think how bad they are doing and that keeps them driven to change things… but sometimes its good to stand still, pause dreaming and be rational for a moment…

I have heard numerous times the sigh “we are living in such a bad/cruel world“… You know what? If You have a look at it – its CRAP! This is the best world there has EVER been (at least for homo sapiens sapiens)… We made the world this way and it might not be ideal for our minds and expectations but it would be a heaven for people from decades passed…

Yes, You open news and there is killings mixed with terrorists and topped with nature catastrophes. But consider a simple fact: its not very distand past when the state of WAR was a standard relationship between countries, peace was only the period of time after a successful war when there was no risk from other power to start a war (they were defeated).

Enjoy what You have, stop complaining, but do not stop trying to make world a better place…

Day 233 (19.01.08)@3am – Movie scare tonight!

Published on January 19, 2008 in Thinking mood and Weird and random. 0 Comments

This is a long post.. pure blog post.. i.e about nothing :)

some stories, or all stories, should be written in the moment when you experience them, in real life or in your head. and thats why I am sitting right here and writing this story.

I have known for longer how to distinguish a good movie from my point of view: its when You finish watching – go out of cinema, or put down headphones and come back to the “real world”… just to realize that the world doesnt feel that real. It feels like the movie is not over, actually it feels that it wasnt a movie…

Thats the feeling I have right now. And I can tell You I was not watching a fairy tale or a romantic comedy. I was watching one of the best horror movies I remember – 1408. And the chill that I feel right now is at the same time stressing but also delicious. The movie just made me feel like this. Asking why? Well maybe because it could have taken place right here, right now, in this room. In one moment the main character says: there is something chilling about hotel rooms in general, You dont know how many people have slept in that bed, how many of them were sick, how many of them lost their mind… The same You can say about my room, its not a place I know for long, I do call it a home, but it doesnt have my history, I didnt paint the walls, didnt put the furniture, didnt see those cracks on ceiling happen. I am a stranger for it that can turn back to how was it before I came in 10 minutes. And I look out of the door, and see door of the other room, just a shade, no surprise its 3am. And hear some sound. Yes, there are lots of sounds. But if You are in a mood like me right now, You try to catch them, try to make them make You feel like there was something more about them. You want to know how? I put down the headphones, the chill still on my shoulders (it actually just went down mine spine and gave me a shiver… doesnt it feel like someone is behind You watching Your back? Right there where head connects to the body… I do). And I look up and go to my room and hear a low roaring sound… sound that doesnt look like belonging in the room. What was it? I am still not sure at this moment, I think somebody was using a pneumatic drill…. At 3am? Well, best explanation I have. And than the dropping. The dropping of the loose water tap in the bathroom (how many people have You seen die in a bathroom in movies? Arent You just a little bit scared of them?). And my chair squeeks, the light is very dim… Feeling it? Want more of it? OK, if its very dim, just one step from being that way that makes everything around You to see only in shades of grey – try to look around You. Fast, throw a glance to right, NO, left, let Your eyes stride and on purpose dont let them stop at anything. Left, right, on screen, sharp left… Oh what a feeling. Now I understand those who really love horror movies, the pictures are so obscure that if they make You afraid, they make You afraid in a strange way – You have never experienced the situations on screen and thats why the feeling is special.

Adrenaline goes down, heartbeat slows down, I took a deep breath, look at my own hand and see it moving, turn on the light and get ready for a normal night. I guess none of You has been feeling the way I did. But just for the feeling… when You turn off the light tonight, to go to sleep, try to remember why have You been scared of dark when You were young. And one last thing, do NOT check if something is under Your bed…

Day 219 – nonsustainability? how do You describe it?

Published on January 5, 2008 in Cultural and Thinking mood. 0 Comments

This is actually a comeback to a post I made a long time ago – how shocked I was to see Pakistanis take food containers from pottery and smash them after usage…
…I considered it unsustainable as pottery is expensive in Slovakia and thus it has be be reused.

But here in Pakistan and even more in India its obvious that clay doesnt cost anything! In India they serve You tea in pottery mini-cups, that You throw away after usage… But after a little bit of rain and stomping the cup becomes what it was before – dust…

…what happens to a plastic cup? Does it change back to petroleum? Dont think so… thank You Pakistan for giving a blow to my image of the world…

Day 213 – Being in the centre of news…

Published on December 30, 2007 in Politics and Thinking mood. 0 Comments

I just was thinking about how I have, inwillingly, become “courageous man”, “thrill seeker”, “adventurer” and generally in the middle of “historical events”.

Lets look back… I have never been a real adventure seeker, from time to time I took a decision to do something crazy, but most of the time it was far away from being dangerous… You might say that I went to Pakistan – which surely was a “dangerous” choice. Honestly? It was not… At time of my application I both didnt know much about Pakistan situation and there was not much going on in the country… And than, later when unrest came, there was a second aspect of mine – once I accepted the fact that I am going to Pakistan, I have filtered all the negative info…

Lets look at present situation… I am in the middle of “turning points of history“, “horrible tragedies” and whatever… Foreign friends of mine here are writing articles to newspapers back at home about what is going on in Pakistan, but I, who always wanted to be important, am not able even to update my blog.

Why? The biggest problem is that I am in the centre of news, but am not in the centre of the events. I go to the same webpages that You do (plus a few I know and You dont know about, e.g. www.dawn.com – english news about Pakistan) and see the same news and do assumptions You can do… So what should I write about?

Everybody is asking me if I am safe and how it is. Well my version of the events of the last two weeks is: I am at the dorm, where most of students have not been able to arrive, so the uni had holidays, trains dont run and we dont have money for plane, so we can not at present go back to Karachi, thats why we are stuck here, parts of city are supposed to be unsafe, so we dont actually go out of the campus, during the day we just roam around bored and from time to time hear sounds from distance about which we can not agree if it is: fireworks, riots or a guy celebrating a wedding…. And thats IT!

I have no new way how to answer questions about how am I or how is it, only thing I can offer special are the contents of discusions with local people about the situation, and those I am trying to offer You through this page with its random articles…

…and thats it, I know it was a boring piece of text, but felt like sharing :P

for something better read e.g. articles of Andrew or Emad or Cileia or just go to Facebook and read some of the notes.

Day 212 – Why does man kill angels? In everyone of us is a beast…

Published on December 29, 2007 in Politics and Thinking mood. 0 Comments

I am sorry to surprise You, but I am not talking about Benazir… She was far from an angel, I want to tell You about a man and his mission, a man nobody of You has ever heard about, who has started an organisation that wants to save the world….

Abdul Sattar Edhi – a man who from nothing has created the “largest and most organized social welfare system in Pakistan. Foundation works round the clock, without any discrimination on the basis of color, race, language, religion or polictics. The Foundation modifies the phrase “Live and let live” to “Live and help live”.” Foundation that owns the worlds biggest privately owned ambulance car fleet. A organisation=man who does for Pakistan what in other countries government is trying to do – care about the common people – but much more effectivelly.

Simply said: if You are born, ill, orphaned, injured, mentally or physically handicapped, addicted, poor and unskilled girl, raped, on run from family, uneducated in jail, street dog or just dead… in all these cases Edhi foundation, run solely from private donations, will take care about You… for free.

You have to understand that this man has created an organisation that is saving thousands of lifes of people and thousands of animals every year… With no benefit for himself – he still owns only a small flat (with only a table and two chairs), that he inherited from his mother, two pairs of clothes and well, the whole Edhi foundation, because he audits every expense in it…

…Why am I saying all of this?

Because there was only one moment that made me cry out (in both meaning of word) during the last days of blasts, shootings and riots… While reading this simple line:

29/12/07: Buildings and ambulances run by the Edhi Foundation, a charity that runs welfare centres, were vandalised. “Seven of our centres have been burnt in Karachi. Nineteen of our ambulances have been burnt, and eight others have been damaged,” said Anwar Ali Kazmi, a spokesman for the non-governmental organisation.

To finish the info: rioters had burned or damaged 947 vehicles, 131 banks and 31 petrol stations up until midnight on Friday. Dozens of banks, vehicles and fast food outlets were set on fire in Hyderabad. Six people died in Karachi on Friday after a factory was set ablaze, while more than 2,000 people torched a police station and stole weapons, police said.

I have always known a man is suicidal and acts without sense when in frenzy, but this is just too much.

My understanding of all peoples movements has been changed. Forget about men trying to free themselves or act together in a protest… Most of them are hell-sheeps, sheeps because they follow the crowd and act like it… To the extent that when the crowd shows anger, these hellish sheeps find the beast in them – and let it out.

…both God and Devil participated at our creation, thats the only explanation I have. Only few people can be admitted to heaven without doubts… but the rest of mankind takes some sick pleasure in destroying their work.