One on One with Dr.Ashraf.

Assalamaulaikum everyone, This is what I have been working on for days. I caught up with an analyst I really look up to and his name is Dr. Mohammed Ashraf Khan. He is currently a GM(General Manager) at a Pharmaceutical firm. He has a good hold over the current affairs of Pakistan in particular and world on a whole. I just caught up with him one evening and queried about some of the issues related to Pakistan which still hold a blur picture in our minds.

Q.1. How long will Zardari stay as the President of Pakistan from now onwards?
Ans. Its anybody’s guess but its in the interests of the country that he should complete his tenure as the president of Pakistan because there is no good reason why he does not complete his term.

Q.2. Why do you think that Zardari should stay the President of the country considering the current scenario in which he is being regarded as a very corrupt personality?
Ans. This has been the history in this country, that few politicians are running the politics of revenge and playing the blame game, with this in mind it is pretty much understood that the majority of the blames involve political motives and if there is any genuine case then it would have rather been taken to court in the past. Even today bringing these issues up totally involves political motives.

Q.3. Then you mean to say that supreme court is acting as a puppet?
Ans. They are the most innocent ones at this stage and they are under pressure by certain forces which do not support democracy or democracy does not favor them. It will not take long that the intentions will be disclosed to Chief Justice Of Pakistan and he may have to select a different path to all these matters.

Q.4. What do you have to say about the swiss accounts issue?
Ans. Government of Pakistan has already spent a lot of time and money on this issue but yet a permeable solution has not been reached upon by any of the courts. There fore its better not to give a certain justification or decision to this case by yourself.

Q.5. What impact will the reopening of cases hold that were being reserved in NRO on current government?
Ans. One thing we have to understand now is that there is no way back and steps will be taken to close this chapter as soon as possible and for sure certain ministers will be punished just to show the public that justice is still available in a country where even the judicial institutions are corrupted.

Q.6. What security threats does Pakistan hold from the Afghan borders?
Ans. Actually we must understand that the pressure of the demands from the USA towards Pakistan has already been taken up by Pakistani policy makers. The only problem is the time schedule because the Americans want the Pakistani forces to leave all their jobs and to hunt after the terrorists on the Pak-Afghan Borders. But the problem is that Pak forces had given them good reasons that they are already engaged in fighting against this disease in their own areas like Waziristan etc and they are also bound to keep essential number of forces on Pak-India border to ensure country’s security so they cannot engage their forces and cannot open a new front against the terrorists on the Pak-Afghan border because Pakistan feels that there is no actual threat on Pak-Afghan Border and if it is there, there are thousands of NATO forces which can meet the challenge only if they are not involved themselves in destabilizing Pakistan from this front.


Q.7. How long will it take for Pakistan to get India onboard with its struggle against terrorism?
Ans. You know this is the tragedy in making in this part of the world that India has lost its credibility as a regional leader and they are acting more like a colony or agents of Americans, serving their interests and finally they will be the loosers, so its not at all important to look towards India as it has its own issues of separatists movements running through out the country and now its written on the wall clearly that “INDIANS WILL BE THE LOOSERS.”

Q.8. How do you see things shaping up for Pervez Musharraf?
Ans. It looks like in Pakistani politics that he may never come back as a person but he may support certain political forces so that he can catch significant amount of popularity in certain segments of Pakistan’s politics where he holds it.

Q.9. Has media in any sense been able to uphold its prestige in Pakistan?
Ans. Media in Pakistan is in a stage of struggle at the moment to prove that they are one of the stakeholders in the game of power and for this purpose they very frequently are playing foul and are not obeying the rules of the game just for the sake of one headline which can get them millions of pay cheques

Q.10. Last question of the day, how long will Pakistan suffer more?
Ans. To be very true this nation will have good days and bad days. The whole world knows that during last 60 years Pakistan has played far better then what they were expected to therefore in coming years Pakistan has a vital role to play in the region, in the world and of course in the Muslim politics.

I have tried my best to cover as many issues as I can just to satisfy a reader’s hunger. But incase if you have any queries or comments regarding this interview feel free to contact me on my facebook account(Muhammad Raza Ayub) or you can even comment on my blog.

Al-Qaeda may try to provoke India-Pakistan conflict

When Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week al Qaeda and its allies might try to provoke a conflict between India and Pakistan, he articulated what many see as the biggest risk to U.S. plans for the region. A major attack on India by Islamist militants could lead to retaliation by a country still bruised by last year's assault on Mumbai, further destabilising nuclear-armed Pakistan. "The Pakistanis are really frustrated. They keep being told to 'do more'," said Kamran Bokhari at U.S. think-tank. Pakistan has been worried about the possibility of another militant attack on India but unsure how to prevent it. Pakistan is already fighting militants who attacked its military headquarters in October and last week killed at least 40 people in a nearby mosque used by the army. When they can't guarantee there will be no attacks in their own country, they can't guarantee India won't be attacked. India like always angry at Pakistan's refusal to act against the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group blamed for killing 166 people in the Mumbai attacks, has rejected calls for talks and suggested it could even retaliate were there to be another major attack on Indian soil. As a result, tension is at its worst since 2002 when one million men were mobilised on the border after a December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament by Pakistan-based militants. "It's not as bad as 2002," said Praveen Swami, a defence expert at the newspaper The Hindu. "But it is the worst it has been since then." It is a situation which al Qaeda may try to exploit. The Pakistani army, taunted by the Taliban for fighting its own people and killing fellow Muslims, would have no choice but to respond against even limited strikes by India."There is no way they could not respond," said Bokhari, adding that the army would otherwise lose all credibility. Now the question that arises here is why there is deadlock in between Pakistan and India.I see the deadlock as a sign of a failure of U.S. diplomacy and evidence of deep divisions within the U.S. administration over how to handle Pakistan.Ever since India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998, the United States has played unofficial peace broker.While it has quietly encouraged India and Pakistan to talk, it seems to have no clear idea how to end the stalemate."There is no real diplomacy going on," said Tarak Barkawi, a defence expert at Britain's Cambridge University. Without diplomacy, Washington had little to offer Pakistan except widening Predator drone attacks. At least in Afghanistan, U.S. troops could try to provide security and economic development. "All we can do in Pakistan is blow things up ... blow things up from afar," he said. "The whole presence of America in Pakistan is a destructive one."Nor does it have much to offer the Indian government, reluctant to start a conflict which might aggravate instability in its neighbour and determined to see off the threat it believes is posed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba. "I think they are very worried about Pakistan," said Swami. "But they don't know what to do about it."

Musharraf poised to return to Pakistan's politics..

With the constitutional restrictions on him ending today (November 28), former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has started planning his return for another stint in his countrys politics. According to sources, Musharraf is in constant touch with his close aides to assess the political scenario of the country, and has asked them to pave the way for his return. Musharraf, who is currently in London on an unannounced exile, has been trying hard to bring his former supporters together. The former general has already held several round of meetings with several of his close associates in the PML-Q, including leaders of dissident group Hamid Nasir Chatta, Saleem Saifullah Khan and Humayun Akhtar. Sources said Musharraf has urged his close supporters to contact politicians for the formation of an unified Muslim League excluding the Nawaz Sharif led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). According to the report, Musharraf is planning to floatt a new political party and has recently funnelled large sums of money into the coffers of former aides to promote his cause. These include former minister of information Sheikh Rasheed, who ...has been paid 1 million dollars, the same amount that went to a public relations team to boost Musharrafs image, the report said. The report also revealed that former general has received millions of dollars in donations from various corporate biggies and his close associates.

Lifestyle 09 changing lifestyles..................

This past week Dawn group arranged an exhibition at Expo center Karachi, which was being entitled as "Dawn Lifestyle". The exhibition is being brought up annually by the Dawn news and it holds a great reputation in Karachi and the crowd that was present there was surely evident enough to portray this fact.

A lot is happening in Pakistan these days, recently there was a fashion show organised by "veet skin care cream" in karachi, similar pattern was being followed in lahore. But lifestyle 09 was one of those major events that everyone waited for eagerly including me.

Fortunately enough I got time to attend the exhibition on the closing day(23rd nov 09). As per expected millions of people were there utilizing their sundays like me to the best of their extent. The event was purely organised for families due to certain security reasons which I think are quite obvious.

The arrangements that were made in putting up this mega event on are surely worth being applauded. The organizing team really give their hearts out to make this event a success. The main idea behind this exhibition was to get all the commodities at one place that are being used by us in our daily life or those articles which play a vital role in shaping one's lifestyle and keeping this in mind I must say that the event surely lived upto the expectations.

The worse part of the whole event was motor vehicles parking which was not being handled correctly by the management.

The event surely had alot to offer. Media,celebs,food,wardrobes,electronics and every article that one utilizes in shaping up his lifestyle was present there. The exhibition also brought a wholesome amount of public gathered at one place which was surely required under the prevailing conditions in our country. The closure of exhibition surely carried out lots of messages which included the fact that we are united, we are not terrorists and finally we are what we are that is we are Pakistanis.

The event surely ended on a happy note and I hope it has accomplished in transforming many lifestyles positively.....................

Something is cooking…..

One fine day, this picture leaked. It was one of those ordinary days when daily news drips of poison and pain. But then came a picture that brought with it… a dash of hope and some excitement. The picture was of Strings men Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia with Atif Aslam. It first surfaced on Strings’s official website (www.stringsonline.net). Soon it turned into one of those uncontrollable cyberspace stories that gets picked up almost instantly. And speculation brews with each passing day. The news cycle runs on its own. And that of course is because of the collective power of Atif Aslam and Strings.

Both Atif Aslam and Strings have confirmed the newsbyte. Something is definitely cooking in the studio.

“Bilal (Maqsood) suggested the idea of doing a song. We met up later and had four meetings, we came to some solid conclusions and it began from there,” says Atif .

“Something is definitely cooking. We are recording a song together and soon we’ll be hitting the studios. The structure of the song and the lyrics have been finalized. It’s quite uplifting. All of us are really excited about it. This song has nothing to do with United for Pop. It’s our own little effort towards something positive. So, I guess, you just have to wait for that…” trailed off Bilal Maqsood of Strings.

Recording together has brought the young Atif and the pros of pop Strings closer.

“Atif is a great guy. He’s down to earth and easy to work with. He is young but there is no doubt that he is hugely talented. He is successful yet grounded and a lot of fun,” says Faisal Kapadia about Atif.

And Atif is all praises for Strings just the same.

“They are what… 13 year older to me, maybe? I grew up with the sound of Strings. I’ve sung their songs at schools and college competitions. I am humbled that I’m working with them. It’s been an interesting process.”

The tune that is still going through the creative process of recording has input from both artists.

According to Atif, the lyrics are written by Bilal Maqsood whereas his interest was more towards song structure.

“We worked together on some melodies and structure because I am really interested in that part. The composition towards the end, its direction was mine whereas the rest is Bilal,” says Atif candidly.

Champagne supernova

Atif Aslam is a pop chameleon. He can roll with commercial Bollywood (remember those days of ‘Aadat’ remixes and ‘Lamhey’) and in the same vein, he can sing with Ustad Riyaz Ali Khan with vigour, respect and a doze of infectious youth as seen and heard on Coke Studio.

They call him the star of this decade. But Atif Aslam’s latest fixation is neither being a star nor looking back. Between Olper’s raging hit commercial and researching how an actual music industry should function and what it entails in the local scene, Atif is also excited about working with Strings. This isn’t the first collaboration for him. He sang with Hadiqa Kiyani the tune, ‘Meray Pass Pass’ for a television series. And it was absolutely brilliant. And after the experience of Coke Studio, this should be a walk in the park for the boy who has become such an aadat for us in the past few years.

On the other hand, if Atif is pop chameleon of this decade, Strings have been doing it for almost two decades with five solid records to their credit. With gems like ‘Sar Kiye’ ‘Aaj Din Bhar’, ‘Jab Say Mein Ne’, ‘Duur’, ‘Anjaane’, ‘Khirki’, ‘Na Jaane Kyun’ among countless others – this is one band that can’t be written off even if they take wee bit longer in releasing a full-fledged record. Their collaboration with Indian act Euphoria, ‘Jeet Lo Dil’, in 2004 was also a positive musical blast from the duo. This one is more personal because it brings together two generations that define contemporary music in Pakistan.

With their last record Koi Aanay Wala Hai, Strings roped in John Abraham for the video. But John Abraham tied up with Sony Music via his own company and was more than just a model in the video. It was the first music product John’s company had put out. That’s Strings for you. And their talent that hasn’t ceased yet.

Now imagine the power of these three men together. We do hope though that Strings and Atif release this tune as an official single, as is the norm with collaborations around the world. And that a video is in the works soon.

The commitment that will last forever!!!!!!!!

The topic speaks for itself. We have entered the month of august according to the calendar followed these days.

The month of august holds a great importance in Pakistan's history, and who can know of it better then us, I mean the Pakistani's.

It was the 14th of this month when a new nation took birth on the world map with the name of Pakistan and astounded everyone. Many critics regarded Pakistan as a failed state and stated that the nation won't be able to survive for a decade.(Such statements are still stated today by anti-pakistani critics).

But against all odds "The nation" has survived. Many leaps and bounds came but we survived and this is where the world looks astonished that how we survived such critical times and the answer to this question is quite clear i.e our belief and commitmment to our motherland which will surely last forever and this particular aspect really worries or I should rather say envies some of our so called friends(friends of Pakistan) and few other nations.

If we sneak back in the history we will find out some great sacrifises, some supreme examples that have turned the tables around for our nation and those prior names have been written in history with golden words.

But i won't be just indulging myself in history. I would be talking about the present aswell. Last evening I was hearing a youngster on radio complaining about the lack of oppurtunities in this nation and I myself felt quite disgraced as a pakistani by the complains and comments made by him for our very dear nation.

Now the answer to that complain which was made by an immatured and confused thought is that there is a conspiracy which is going on against our youth by some Mir Jaffer's within us and also by some foreign powers. Therefore we have to be very carefull with it, we have the potential to achieve what west has not even achieved yet but the issue is the "Direction". We need direction and for that we have to respect our social and culutural values and have to strengthen our religious beliefs to a valuable extent and oppurtunities do not come by and knock at one's doors, you have to make them come to you, oppurtunites are created at first then they are utilized for one's betterment.

This was my message to you all for this years' independence day that just have a strong belief and take that commitment along which you have made to your nation InshaAllah you will achieve great for yourself and for your beloved nation. MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

PAKISTAN ZINDABAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pakistan slaps India with evidence of RAW’s involvement in Terrorism inside Pakistan!!!!!!!!!!

1.In the Sri Lankan cricket team case, Indian operatives crossed the border from Indian to join other Indian-origin or Indian-trained terrorists who traveled all the way from Afghanistan to Lahore
2. Indian terrorism training bases, intelligence outposts and personnel in Afghanistan identified
3. In some cases, Indian intelligence was indirectly supporting attacks against US soldiers in Afghanistan in order to worsen Pak-US military relations
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was stunned when Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani handed him a dossier containing photographs of Brahamdagh Bugti and other terrorists meeting Indian agents not only in Afghanistan but also during their visits to India and the names of the Indian officials who met them. This was part of more evidence about India’s involvement in recruiting, training, financing and arming terrorists in Afghanistan and sending them to Pakistan. India’s links to the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore and other high profile terrorism cases have been established, shocking even Indian’s many advocates in Washington. Mr. Gilani gave this surprise to the Indians behind closed doors. Now India fears that Pakistan would use this meeting to expose Indian connections with two anti-Pakistan terrorist leaders and their foreign-funded terror armies: Brahamdagh Bugti and his BLA [Balochistan Liberation Army] and Baitullah Mehsud’s Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, both being supported from bases in US-controlled Afghanistan.