What exactly is Zardari upto?

All those years of loitering, blackmail, fraud and jail-sentences, and all of a sudden Zardari is playing Mr. Nice Guy?! Smells a bit fishy to me.

Q league ka safaya hogaya!

I woke up on Feb 19th to GEO's flashing headline "Q league ka safaya hogaya!" running amidst some patriotic background music. And why not? They have every reason to be pleased, perhaps more so than anybody else given they bore the brunt of government's excesses on the media. I'm just glad we won't get to see the likes of Wasi Zafar on our television sets anymore! :)

So, the people have apparently spoken and Mush and his cronies have been outrightly rejected. Great! But where does this lead us? Back to the looters of before sadly. They looted us separately when they were in power and now they're back to loot us together! Democracy, gotta love it eh?

Like I earlier said, I did not vote in this election. But apparently, it made no difference AT ALL as we've learned of massive rigging having taken place in several constituencies of Karachi in favor of MQM. I can't speak for others, but I am bewildered as to how an MQM guy can win from PS-126 - an area dominated by PPP supporters. I have heard of at least 10 different credible accounts of rigging across Karachi. Nevertheless, the election have by and large been free and fair and I guess we should be thankful for that.

In other news, YouTube has been blocked in Pakistan on PTA's directions for containing some "blashpemous content". When these spoonheads will realize that this is the 21st century is beyond me! Besides, placing such bans on web sites only serves to spark further interest in them. Such actions speak volumes of the narrow mindedness on the part of PTA chiefs. Although not confirmed yet, the reason for the ban is either the vote rigging videos that have sprung up over the last couple of days OR the anti-Islam movie clips made by Geert Wilders - a dutch politician who seems to be on a personal mission to defame Muslims and the Quran. More on him here. Meanwhile, the vote rigging clip shown on GEO can be viewed on VidPk.com here.

If they must ban such things, why couldn't they hire a half a decent network guy to install some advanced filters so that ONLY the objectionable content is inaccessible rather than the entire website?! This is similar to the stupid blogspot blanked ban they put in place last year. Looks like they haven't learned anything. Ah well, here's hoping this just a temporary measure.

Vote anyone?

Going through some "sensitive" areas of the city on the eve of Election Day, I said a silent prayer asking God for peace and stability on and after Feb 18. Without a doubt, peace is now a precious commodity for an ordinary Karachiite. We crave for peace like people crave for something important in their lives - as in their wedding, divorce (whichever way you look at it). Even my masjid's pesh-imam prays for peace before anything else, and rightly so! We need it so bad to run our goddamn businesses in the city. It'd be nice for a change when you don't have to worry about the HAALAAT spiraling out of control or some random rioting occurring in the city. It'd be nice just to focus on our day jobs for a change, if you know what I'm saying.

Anyway, enough of ranting for now. I am writing this post on the eve of Election Day to ask YOU if you're going to vote tomorrow. I know I won't - why you may ask. I'll tell you why .. the people who're contesting the elections in my locality include:
Syed Faisal Raza Abidi (PPP)
Moulana Abdul Hakeen (MMA)
Haider Abbas Rizvi (MQM)
Haleem Adil Sheikh (PML-Q)

along with some independents and one PML-N guy whose name I can't recall right now. Personally, I'd have voted for PTI if they were contesting the elections, but to vote for any one of these guys is something I'm just not going to do. I'd rather die then have voting for any of these suckers on my conscience, no thanks!

It was shocking to read some of Musharraf's comments in his interview with Jemima today. He openy admits than he's let loose some "people of main parties" in order to work with them and keep his stay in power certain. He's basically made a deal with the most corrupt leaders around in order to hang on to his seat and now he bemoans there's not much he can do. How convevient for you Mushy! Letting the country go down the drain while you continue to enjoy the luxuries of the palatial President House, to me you're no different than the people who looted this country before you. I thought you were different, but you're just another military dictator - one too many I must add for Pakistan. I hope you meet your just end soon.

With news coming in of massive rigging plans already in motion by the party in power, I can only wonder what the reaction of the opposition parties will be. Like I said earlier, one can only hope for lasting peace in this city (and the country of course). For everyone's sake, let's hope there is some degree of authenticity to this election, and perhaps more importantly, people accept the results - something that looks like a pipedream right now to be honest!

I am a Muslim. Kill me and call it "Collateral Damage"