The Notoriously Unreliable Source of Raisina And Tihar – Nusrat, in short – winked and grinned broadly as he approached me. He was clearly bursting with news.

‘Well, Nusrat,’ I said. ‘You seem mighty pleased with yourself. Are you carrying gossip from Raisina Hill or Tihar jail?’

He shrugged and said:

‘How can you tell the two places apart anymore? But as it happens, I’m returning from Raisina Hill. From the Prime Minister’s Office, in fact.’

‘Then you must have been the only visitor of the day. Did you help the staff clear the cobwebs? I mean, whoever is interested in the PMO nowadays?’

‘Funny you should say that,’ Nursrat said, rubbing his hands in wicked glee. ‘As it happens, the Prime Minster went AWOL two days ago.’ Since I didn’t know how to react, he continued: ‘And even the PMO realised this fact just this morning!’

‘Oh!’ I said, surprised that I was surprised.

Also read: Of missed calls and the resurrection of Manmohan Singh

‘I was there when the Principal Secretary discovered the fact and placed a call to the Associate Secretary and asked him to make discreet enquires. Needless to say, the Associate Secretary called the Deputy Secretary who called the Deputy Associate Secretary who then demanded that the Assistant Deputy Secretary take action. Very soon, an army of secretaries was placing calls to Cabinet Ministers, colleagues in Parliament, extended family members and so on and so forth. One secretary even reached out to the management of the Golden Temple – given the current situation, would it surprise anybody that the PM wanted to seek spiritual solace? Of course, nobody knew where the PM was.’

‘“Nusrat, you caught us in a fine pickle,” one of the Secretaries told me. “Please don’t leak this out to the media. The PM is having a tough time. The poor man was under sufficient duress as it was without having to endure the after effects of Sanjay Baru’s book and now PC Parakh’s book.”

Also read: The tragedy of Manmohan Singh

‘I nodded and replied: “When a former media advisor and coal secretary confirm the theory that everybody in the world already believes in … life can turn bleak. I can see that. Now everybody knows what they already knew.”’

‘“That’s humbug, Nusrat. The PM wasn’t submissive. He wasn’t influenced by anybody.” Here, he picked up the phone and said:” ‘Cancel the appointment with the accent tutor.”’

‘”What’s the need for an accent tutor?” I asked.’

‘“You know, it’s the strangest thing … but the PM began developing a thick Italian accent around five years ago. He meets an accent tutor once a week to neutralise this mysterious influence.”’

‘Yes, that’s quite a mystery,’ I said. ‘What will you do now? When the PM doesn’t show up for public appearances, tongues would wag.”

‘“The body double will take over,” the Secretary replied. “He looks a perfect replica. And since nobody expects the PM to speak, it doesn’t matter that he sounds like a water buffalo. Our real problem is that somebody might notice if he doesn’t return before the new government is sworn in.” Picking up the phone again, he said, “Get the PM’s therapist on the line. And I need security tapes from the day the PM disappeared.”’

Nusrat paused meaningfully. When he continued, it was in a theatrical monotone.

‘When the therapist came on the line, he had nothing new to offer. His last session with the PM followed the normal pattern – the therapist asked questions and the PM nodded or shook his head; sometimes he did both together. Towards the end, he said something that sounded like Abki baar, chup rahenge yaar. All in all, it was an excellent session; he had spoken three words more than usual.

Also read: A messy basement and a clean penthouse?

‘As for the tapes, they weren’t conclusive,’ Nusrat said, looking me in the eye. ‘He spent most of the day in his study, in the room that he has once privately termed his Museum of Achievements. On different parts of the room hung extra-large framed prints of the best laws he had enacted. The RTI, the RTE, the NREGA … laws that had promised to reform Indian society from the ground up. Laws that had managed to achieve that to a miniscule extent. In the tapes, we heard the PM muttering something to himself. It seemed like he kept saying the same thing again and again. The Secretary used some technology to amplify his feeble voice. We couldn’t be sure, but we think he was saying, “I did good. I meant well. People will remember that.”’

Here, Nusrat asked me:

‘Does that make sense? If a lowly clerk in a government office remains clean and sincere in spite of the muck flying all around him, he has the right to be proud. But can the man sitting on what’s supposed to be the most powerful chair in the land make the same argument? I was asking this exact question to the Secretary when the PM himself sauntered in, looking like the cat’s whiskers. He was actually sporting a smile and a skip in his step. He also said, “Abki baar, chup rahe yaar.”’

Nusrat stared at me with a wry smile.

‘Where had he been? What did he do there? Yes, my friend, I can read the pussy cat questions in your eyes. None of us can be sure. I’ll tell you what I think, though. After the elections, a certain few people will have to practice mournful silence in front of the media. So the PM was asked to spend two days coaching them on this priceless skill. And for a man who had taken way too many orders and subdued his conscience way too many times, this must have been a special occasion indeed. Seeing them tongue-tied … witnessing their helplessness firsthand … must have felt like staring into a mirror of vindication.’

With that, the Notoriously Unreliable Source of Raisina And Tihar guffawed and left me to my ponderings.

A ghost of a minister

Amitabh Bachchan, who returns as Bhoothnath, has a warm screen-sharing generosity. While this doesn’t do wonders for ‘Bhoothnath’ the character, it helps maintain sincerity to the movie’s last hour and a half.

A scene from movie, "Bhoothnath Returns". – Courtesy Photo

Bhoothnath finds ghost world clean and perfect. He is the town’s latest joke – a ghost who couldn’t scare a little boy. With his pride hurt, Bhoothnath travels back to Earth to scare a few children – which with the way the youth is these days, translates as a failed mission – so that he can return with his pride intact.

A scene from movie, "Bhoothnath Returns". – Courtesy Photo

Bhoothnath succeeds quite early in the movie, with help from Akhroat (Parth Bhalerao) – a poverty-stricken, incorruptible, wise guy, who can see him. The two become ghost-busting partners, and later decide to take on a local criminal-turned-politician (Boman Irani) by entering politics.

A scene from movie, "Bhoothnath Returns". – Courtesy Photo

Director Nitesh Tiwari gracefully pulls off the ambiguity of Bhootnath Returns, as the movie slowly merges its plot into a socially relevant commentary on the average man’s voting power.

A scene from movie, "Bhoothnath Returns". – Courtesy Photo

Songs added as fillers are not too annoying and appearances by Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap are aptly added.

Kamaljeet Negi’s cinematography is surprisingly minimalistic. The screenplay grounds itself by keeping a low profile and relying on familiar characters. Bhalerao is the movie’s backbone, and at times the young actor’s skill overtakes Bachchan’s decades of acting experience.

The final word

Bhoothnath Returns’ premise is cleverly overpowered by its mildness – and of course, Bhalerao’s entrancing performance.

The movie’s punch – and star rating – may tail off a few years later, for now though, it just works.

Distributed by BR Films, ‘Bhootnath Returns’ is rated ‘U’ for universal themes and a public service message almost everyone knows but are too laid back to implement.

Directed by Nitesh Tiwari; Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Renu Ravi Chopra; Written by Nitesh Tiwari, Piyush Gupta; Cinematography by Kamaljeet Negi; Editing by Chandrashekhar Prajapati; Music by Palash Muchhal Meet Bros Anjjan, Ram Sampath, Yo Yo Honey Singh.

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Parth Bhalerao, Boman Irani, Anurag Kashyap,Usha Jadhav, Sanjay Mishra, Brijendra Kala, Usha Nadkarni.

Carlotta Gall's recent book squarely blames Pakistan for Afghanistan's and Pakistan's misfortunes. Pakistan, at least since the late 70s, has been instrumental in the wars waged in and on Afghanistan. An important question to ask though, is how Afghanistan was performing before that.

The post-Soviet invasion Afghanistan has been the subject of extensive scholarship and academic curiosity. Ms. Gall’s The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001-2014 is the latest in a rich and productive series of books on the region that started to appear after the attacks in the US in 2001.While thousands of academic articles, professional reports, and books have been published on Afghans, Afghanistan, and its neighbours, yet little, if any, details are available in the current discourse about the economy of pre-war Afghanistan. More importantly, one is hard-pressed to find any discourse on the economic indicators and trends for Afghanistan from the 50s and the mid-to late 70s.

The poor state of Afghanistan's economic development in the past four decades could very much be attributed to violence and wars that have killed several hundred thousand and forced millions more into refuge across the world. Pakistan, the United States, Saudi Arabia and other Jihad-infatuated Arabs share the blame with the Afghans who took part in the destruction of their homeland. But how did Afghanistan's economy fare before the foreigners extended their unwelcome reach? Was Afghanistan on a road to socio-economic salvation that got interrupted by Pakistan-based jihadis?

The answers to the above-mentioned questions are hard to find. The academic and professional literature is rather sparse on the economic and human development of pre-Soviet Afghanistan. While many an anthropologist and social scientist studied the land and people, Afghanistan’s economy, however, failed to attract local or global scholarship. Academic literature and data covering Afghanistan's economy in the 50s and 60s is riddled with holes and gaps making it difficult to knit a complete portrait of the socio-economy.

The land of insolence

It is true that Afghanistan as a State and an entity existed for longer than Pakistan has. Still, its current geography and the heterogeneous mix of ethnicities is not the result of deliberate state building, but rather an outcome of successful conquests by the British backed Amir Abdur Rahman, who ruled parts of present day Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901.

The British helped him set up the Emirate of Kabul (not Afghanistan) and supported him with an annual stipend (Lieberman, 1980). Over the years, Abdur Rahman subdued Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras and others, and founded ‘Yaghestan’, the land of insolence. Abdur Rahman also agreed, rather reluctantly, with the British in 1893 to have Durand Line as the de facto border with British India.

But cobbling together a country with diverse ethnic groups – who shared neither culture nor history, and who only had age-old mutual contempt for each other in common – meant that these groups were bound to struggle in sharing geography. Lieberman (1980) rightly points out to the historic origins of the Afghan crisis when he states:

… [T]he tensions [were] built into the Afghan state from its inception; the divisive geographic and ethno-demographic features; the demographic regime of exceptionally high fertility and mortality and rapid population growth; and the limited gains resulting from a strategy of ‘guided’ development and reform that was adopted in the 1950s.

By April 1980, the Afghan crisis forced 680,000 refugees into Pakistan. The number of refugees over the years swelled to almost 4 million. However, the origins of this crisis were hidden in the painful creation of Afghanistan and in the rule by subsequent regimes who transitioned only with blood-stained coups staged by palace insiders. Habibullah (1901-1919), Abdur Rahman’s younger son, who succeeded him, also failed in finding a narrative that would keep various tribes and ethnicities from staging rebellions. Amanullah (1919-1929), who succeeded Habibullah, faced rebellions from Pakhtuns and Tajiks. His reign ended up in anarchy until Nadir Khan (1929-1933), a former army commander, took over and restored order. Nader Khan (Shah) called himself the king, but was soon assassinated in 1933.

Nadir Shah’s brothers, Hashim Khan (1933-46) and Shah Mahmud (1946-1953), acted as regents for his son, Zahir Shah, whose reign lasted from 1933 to 1973. Zahir Shah, however, remained overshadowed by regents and other proxies who ruled on his behalf. One of the key players who enjoyed two stints during that period was Mohammed Daud Khan who first became the prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963, and later served as President of Afghanistan in 1973 after he overthrew the monarchy of Zahir Shah, his first cousin and brother-in-law.

Daud Khan was the most entrepreneurial of the Afghan leaders. He succeeded in getting both the US and USSR in offering aid and support to Afghanistan. Despite his international success, Daud remained a staunch Pakhtun nationalist who dreamt of amalgamating Pakhtun populations scattered along the Durand Line. However, his misadventure in 1955 to mobilise Afghan forces against Pakistan on a dispute over transit trade sowed the seeds of mistrust betweenthe two countries. At the same time, the non-Pakhtuns in Afghanistan were alarmed by Daud’s attempt to tilt the demographic balance in Afghanistan in the Pakhtun's favour.

While Daud Khan was busy securing funds and support from international powers and posturing on Afghanistan’s Eastern border, he failed to build domestic support for his plans. He did not found a political party to support his plans. He, in fact is known to have made not a single speech to the Afghans during his tenure (Lieberman, 1980). Daud met an unfortunate end in 1978 when he was assassinated along with other members of his family. Their bodies were discovered decades later in the Pul-e-Charkhi area of Kabul. He was given a state burial in 2009.

The 100 years of discord, intrigue, and violent transitions lasting until the assassination of Daud Khan in 1978 are more of a result of Afghanistan’s internal schisms rather than caused by malfeasance of the Pakistani State or its agents. The same, however, cannot be said of Pakistan in the post-1978 events in the region where Pakistan became the launching pad first for the warring Afghan groups and later for Arab and other jihadis who have robbed the region of its potential and innocence.

Funding development on others’ dime

Afghanistan has a long history of dependence on foreign aid. In fact, Afghanistan’s first five-year development plan for 1957/58 to 1961/62 relied on foreign sources for 75 per cent of the capital requirements. The reliance on foreign sources for capital declined to 64.4 per cent in the second five-year development plan, and to 47.2 per cent in the third five-year development plan. Both United States and the Soviet Union competed to provide development loans on favorable terms and foreign aid to Afghanistan. During 1956 and 1967, Afghanistan was successful in securing an excess of $1 billion dollars in assistance with the US covering 35 per cent, and Soviet Union covering 52 per cent of foreign assistance (Noorzoy, 1976).

During the same time period, the state made little attempt to attract the private sector in development. The initial five-year development plans revealed that private investment constituted on average less than six per cent of the expenditures. At the same time, public ownership of the industries increased from 23 per cent in 1961/62 to 45 per cent in 1968/69. While successive governments blamed shortage of entrepreneurial talent in Afghanistan, it was though the reluctance of the public sector to share the stage with private sector players (Noorzoy, 1976).

Instead of modernising the economy, successive Afghan regimes perpetuated the reliance on traditional Afghan handicrafts to earn foreign exchange rather than developing a diverse export-based economy. In fact, 90 per cent of the export income was generated from trade in fruits, nuts, will, cotton, and hides (Eltezam, 1966). It is therefore no surprise that a review of the economic development of Afghanistan from 1929 to 1961 showed little or no tangible assets to bolster economy and the export base of the country. There were only 70 medium-sized and small factories in Afghanistan, three working coal mines, a fleet of only 6000 buses and trucks, approximately 40 electric stations, and 10 per cent literacy to boast for in 1961. The only major accomplishment was the development of the transport sector with new all-weather roads (Guha, 1965).

The lackluster economic progress in Afghanistan was blamed on its leadership and the poor state of planning. The five-year development plans failed to help build strong foundations for the country. In fact, the “five year plans were unimpressive documents drawn up with the assistance of foreign advisers and consisted of expensive ‘shopping lists’ of projects with little commentary on the need for a priority assigned to particular expenditures.” (Lieberman, 1980).

A look at the development statistics revealed that starting in 1960s, Afghanistan reported the worse statistics for human development. Afghanistan, when compared with Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, reported the highest mortality rate for children under five. Other development indicators were no better.

Afghanistan had the lowest yield for cereals, lowest probability to reach the age of 65, and the lowest number of doctors per thousand population. A quick look at the graph below reveals that the mortality rate for under-five years old in Afghanistan declined at a faster rate in the 80s than in the 60s or the 70s.

The drought in the early 70s was yet another major natural disaster that devastated Afghanistan, but had little to do with the Pakistani establishment. One could see from other civil wars that erupted in Africa after severe droughts that the Afghans were not prepared for the security fallout as an unintended consequence of the drought.

Poor economic planning, natural disasters, weak political institutions, and a polarised population with little in common were the reasons for Afghanistan’s lack of socio-economic progress in the past. The last four decades of violence and civil war has left the State and the people even weaker. It is high time for Afghanistan and its neighbours to learn from the past mistakes.

Pakistan should learn to respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty and refrain from any intervention by its agents. And Afghanistan should strive to address the internal rifts that have contributed to more than a century of violence and war in the country.

References:

Lieberman, Samuel S. Afghanistan: Population and Development in the "Land of Insolence". Population and Development Review, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Jun., 1980), pp. 271-298.
Eltezam, Zabioullah A. Afghanistan's Foreign Trade. Middle East Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Winter, 1966), pp. 95-103.
Guha, Amalendu. Economic Development of Afghanistan – 1929-1961. (April, 1965). International Studies. Vol. 06, No. 4. pp. 421-439.
Noorzoy, M. S. Planning and Growth in Afghanistan. 1976. World Development. Vol. 4, No. 9, pp. 761-773.

When in early 2014 Misbah-ul-Haq’s men dramatically defeated Sri Lanka at Sharjah in the third Test to square the series 1-1, the victory was rightly described as being one of the finest achieved by Pakistan (in Test match cricket).

But it was only the second victory in the past 14 years that can be termed as ‘great’ (after Inzamam’s men defeated India in the third Test to square the series during Pakistan’s 2006 tour of India).

However, in the decades before the 2000s, Pakistan managed to accomplish a number of thrilling victories in which the team came from behind to snatch unexpected victories.

Here we recall the drama and the ecstasy of four such Test wins.

This feature is part of Dawn.com's on-going Pakistan Cricket History series:

• Pakistan Cricket: A Class, Ethnic & Sectarian History
• Reverse Sweeps: Pakistan’s Crazy Cricket Controversies
• Great Pakistan Cricket Captains (And Then Some)

4th Test vs England, Kennington Oval, August 12-17, 1954

In June 1954, Pakistan embarked on its maiden tour of England to play its first ever Test series against the English side.

Pakistan had managed to gain international Test status in 1952 but had just played five Tests (against India) before leaving for England.

The Pakistan team was being led by the 28-year-old Oxford graduate, Abdul Hafeez Kardar, an average batting all-rounder but a no-nonsense figure who commanded immediate respect from the players.

The Pakistan squad was an extremely inexperienced lot. Before Pakistan’s Test debut in 1952 most players had just played club cricket in Pakistan, except Kardar who had played three Tests for India (before 1947) and was playing county cricket in England.

Pakistan’s cricket board at the time was lacking the money and facilities required to construct a robust structure in a Test playing country.

The players were paid only a nominal fee per Test and most of them had never travelled beyond India and Pakistan, let alone to England.

A number of players also had to actually borrow warm clothes from friends for the England trip, while some private patrons of the game in Pakistan lent them money to buy basic cricket equipment like shoes, pads and bats.

Pakistan was scheduled to play four Tests and a number of side games on the tour and for this the selectors picked a 17-member squad:

• A H. Kardar (Captain) | 28 | Lahore | Left-Handed Batsman (LHB)/Left-Arm-Spin (LAS).
• Hanif Mohammed | 19 | Karachi | Right-Handed Batsman (RHB)
• Alimuddin | 23 | Karachi | RHB
• Fazal Mahmood | 27 | Lahore | Right-Arm Medium Fast (RMF)
• Imtiaz Ahmad | 26 | Lahore | Wicketkeeper (WK)
• M E. Ghazali | 29 | Karachi | RHB/ RFM
• Ikram Illahi | 21 | Quetta | RHB/RFM
• Khalid Hassan | 16 | Peshawar | RHB/Right-Arm Leg-Break (RLB)
• Khalid Wazir | 18 | Lahore | RFM
• Mahmood Hussain | 22 | Lahore | RFM
• Maqsood Ahmad | 28 | Lahore | RHB
• Mohammad Aslam | 34 | Lahore | RHB/RLB
• Shakoor Ahmed | 25 | Lahore | RHB/WK
• Sujahuddin | 24 | Lahore | LHB/LAS
• Waqar Hassan | 21 | Karachi | RHB
• Wazir Mohammed | 24 | Karachi | RHB
• Zulfikar Ahmed | 27 | Lahore | Right-Arm Off-Break (ROB)

Some of the Pakistani players pose for the camera during the England tour.

Pakistan was one-down in the series when it reached the Kennington Oval ground in London to play the last Test of the four-Test series. The first and third Tests were drawn whereas the second was won by England by an innings and 129 runs.

But Pakistan could have easily been 3-0 down in the series had it not been for the weather that saved the team from certain defeats in the first and third Tests.

Pakistan’s swing bowlers Fazal Mahmood and Mahmood Hussain had enjoyed bowling under overcast skies and on wet pitches, but Pakistan’s batting was all at sea in front of England’s quick bowlers.

Rain had saved the team some major blushes in the first and third Tests and Pakistan went into the fourth game under heavily overcast skies, a tricky wet pitch and a shaky batting line-up. British press predicted that only more rain could save Pakistan from losing the series 2-0.

Out and about in London: Kardar, Fazal and Imtiaz Ahmed two days before the fourth Test.

Kardar won the toss and elected to bat. But rain delayed the start of the play and when the Pakistani openers, Hanif Mohammed and Alimuddin, walked in to bat, they found themselves on yet another unpredictable wicket and an atmosphere in which the ball was swinging prodigiously through the air.

Once again, Pakistan was exposed to the swinging ball and bundled out for just 133. Kardar top scored with a streaky 36.

England was one for no loss at end of the first day’s play. The second day’s play however was completely washed out by heavy rains.

The third day of the game was punctuated by intermediate spells of rain and overcast skies, leaving the wicket wetter than ever. This was good news for Fazal whose swing bowling ran through the English side, sending it packing for just 130. Fazal took six wickets and was ably supported by his fast bowling partner Hussain, who grabbed four.

Just three runs ahead, Kardar asked his batsmen to give him a lead of at least 150 which he thought his bowlers could defend on a rapidly deteriorating pitch.

But by the end of the third day’s play, Pakistan had collapsed to 63 for 4, just 66 ahead. Imtiaz Ahmed and Kardar were on the wicket and they returned on the fourth day trying to repair the damage and to increase Pakistan’s lead to at least 150.

After only an hour’s play, however, Pakistan had crumbled to 82 for 8 (just 85 ahead).

Another Pakistani batsman perishes in the second innings.

Pakistani players in the dressing room kept looking up at the overcast skies and some were heard asking the pressmen present at the stadium whether more rain was predicted.

When Hanif’s brother, Wazir Mohammed, was walking in to bat at the fall of the sixth wicket at 73, Kardar (the sixth man out) while walking past the in-coming Wazir, said: ‘150. Just give me a lead of 150.’

But 73 for 6 quickly became 82 for 8.

Wazir defended well and continuously talked to the last two batsmen, none of whom were known for their batting.

While playing with Hussain and last man Zulfiqar Ahmed, Wazir tried to continuously steal singles and doubles to keep the strike.

He found an equally stubborn partner in Hussain, who grew in confidence, striking four boundaries in his vital innings of 34 that lasted 117 minutes!

Pakistan crossed 150 and was eventually all out for 164. Wazir remained not-out at 42. Kardar finally got what he wanted: a lead of 150 or above.

England was confident of achieving the target, more so when it reached 108 for 2. The pitch seemed to have settled down and even flattened out. Pakistan was in trouble.

But just as the close of the fourth day’s play was drawing near, Fazal bowled a vicious leg-cutter to Peter May who was well set at 53. May tried to play the ball on the back foot, was squared-up, got an edge and was comfortably taken at first slip by Kardar. England 109 for 3.

Then at 114, Fazal got past Even’s defences, clean bowling him for three. Kardar brought in the left-arm spin of Shujauddin from the other end who, with an arm ball, struck TW Graveney plumb in front of the wicket. The umpire showed no hesitation in declaring Graveney out LBW. England 116 for 5.

The prolific English batsman, Dennis Compton, was still at the wicket and was looking well set to eventually guide England towards a victory when he couldn’t help but chase and edge an out-swinger from Fazal that was gladly grabbed by wicketkeeper Imtiaz Ahmed. England were 121 for 6 and now (for the first time) looking to be in a bit of a bother.

Fazal on a roll: Gets a well-set Compton.

The fourth day finally ended with England poised at 125 for 6, needing just 42 to win with four of its wickets still intact and whole day to go.

Though praising the young and inexperienced Pakistan team’s fight back, the British press was overwhelmingly predicting an English victory.

J Wardle and Frank Tyson walked in to bat on the start of the fifth day’s play with the instructions to move towards the target with the help of singles and doubles.

But Fazal had entered the field after being spurred on by Kardar the evening before. He quickly got Tyson to edge an off-cutter to Imtiaz Ahmed before snapping up Wardle. England 138 for 8.

When Hussain removed Loader with the score still at 138, England still needed 29 but with just one wicket in hand.

McConnon and JB Statham slowly pushed the score to 143. They had begun to look relatively comfortable against a tiring Fazal when McConnon pushed a delivery into the covers and tried to steal a quick single. Hanif was quicker. He ran in fast to gather the ball and threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end, running McConnon out by almost a yard.

Hanif runs McConnon out and Pakistan win by just 24 runs.

The Pakistan team erupted with joy. The babes of world cricket had defeated what was then considered to be one of the world’s strongest Test sides.

Stunned, the large English crowd at the stadium gradually joined a few dozen UK-based Pakistanis gathered underneath the Pakistan dressing room where the Kardar’s team waved and responded to their cheers.

On its return to Pakistan, the team was given a heroes’ welcome.

Kardar waves to the crowd after the victory.

Sources:
Playing for Pakistan: Hanif Mohammed (Oxford University Press, 1999)
From Dusk to Dawn: Fazal Mahmood (Oxford University Press, 2003)
DAWN (18th August, 1954)

3rd Test vs Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground, January 14-18, 1977

When veteran middle-order batsman Mushtaq Mohammed was made captain of the Pakistan cricket team (in late 1976), Pakistan had not won a Test match in three years.

Replacing Intikhab Alam, Mushtaq, in his maiden series as captain (against the visiting New Zealand side), led Pakistan to its first series victory (2-0) since 1973.

But the real Test for Mushtaq and his team lay ahead when Pakistan were to tour Australia and the West Indies.

At the time Australia and the West Indies, packed with a battery of genuine fast bowlers and some destructive batsmen, were considered to be the top two Test sides in the world.

Pakistan was to play three Tests in Australia and five in the West Indies. A 17-man squad was picked for the twin tour:

• Mushtaq Mohammad | (Captain) | 33 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break
• Asif Iqbal | (Vice Captain) | 33 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman
• Majid Khan | 30 | Lahore | Right-Handed opening batsman and occasional off-spin
• Sadiq Muhammad | 31 | Karachi | Left-handed opening batsman
• Zaheer Abbas | 29 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman
• Javed Miandad | 19 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman and occasional leg-break
• Haroon Rashid | 23 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman
• Mudassar Nazar | 20 | Lahore | Right-handed opening batsman
• Wasim Raja | 24 | Lahore | Left-handed batsman and right-arm leg-spin
• Wasim Bari | 27 | Karachi | Wicketkeeper and right-handed batsman
• Taslim Arif | 22 | Karachi | Wicketkeeper and right-handed batsman
• Imran Khan | 24 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman and right-arm fast
• Sarfraz Nawaz | 28 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium
• Saleem Altaf | 32 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium
• Sikander Bakht | 19 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium
• Asif Masood |30 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium
• Intikhab Alam | 35 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break
• Iqbal Qasim | 23 | Karachi | Left-handed batsman and Left-arm leg-spin
• Mohsin Khan | 21 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman

(Mohsin Khan joined the squad on the West Indian leg of the tour).

Former Pakistan cricketer Shujauddin was the Manager.

The squad off to Australia (Karachi Airport, December 1976).

The Pakistan team immediately received a hostile reception from the Australian media. It predicted the Australians would whitewash the Pakistanis. The hostility spilled over onto the ground as well when the Pakistani players faced a continuous barrage of abuse from the crowds as well as from the Australian players during the first Test in Adelaide.

Pakistan barely averted defeat and managed to hold on to a tense draw thanks to a fighting century by Asif Iqbal in the second innings. But the Pakistani players were clearly shaken by the manner in which the Australian team and the crowd had behaved.

Right after the game, Australia’s tearaway fast bowler, Denis Lillee, came into the Pakistan dressing room carrying a few bottles of beer.

Mushtaq was surprised when Lillee asked him to share a beer with him. Mushtaq responded by telling Lillee: ‘How can you expect us to share a drink with you after the way you guys abused and cursed us in the field?’

Lillee laughed: ‘Mushy, what happens on the field, remains on the field.’

Ironically, though the Pakistan team did end up sharing a few beers with the Australians, Lillee demolished the Pakistan side in the second Test at Melbourne, picking up 10 wickets in the match as Pakistan experienced a crushing defeat, losing by 348 runs.

VIDEO | Rare video of Lillee’s 10 wickets in the second Test match in Melbourne:

Now one-down in the series and expecting another barrage of hostile fast bowling and abuse from the Australians, vice-captain Asif Iqbal wrote an article for the now defunct Pakistani cricket monthly, The Pakistan Cricketer.

Titled ‘The Ugly Australians’, Iqbal outraged against the abusive behaviour of the Australian crowds and players. The article caused a stir in the Australian press that now encouraged the Australian team to defeat the Pakistanis in the third Test by an even bigger margin.

A member of the crowd is reprimanded by the cops for drunken behaviour during the first Test in Adelaide.

Meanwhile, captain Mushtaq was facing another problem. Pakistan’s maverick batsman, Wasim Raja, who had not been selected in the playing IX in the first two Tests, managed to nudge the skipper, when he struck a hard-hitting century in a side game against Queensland.

Under pressure from the criticism Pakistan’s batting was facing from the press back home and the fact that Mushtaq’s relationship with the Pakistan cricket board’s President, A H. Kardar, was rapidly deteriorating, the tour’s selection committee (consisting of Mushtaq, vice-captain Asif Iqbal and Manager Shujauddin), decided to strengthen the batting line-up by playing an extra batsman in the third Test at Sydney.

Iqbal Qasim, Haroon Rasheed, Mudassar Nazar and Sikandar Bakht share a few tips with young Australian fans.

Raja’s inclusion was now almost a certainty after his crackling century against Queensland. But unknown to him, Mushtaq and Asif wanted to bring in a more reliable batsman, someone who would actually listen and follow the instructions of the captain.

A day before the third and last Test, Raja somehow got to know that he won’t be playing in the Test. A loner by nature, he decided to sulk on his own in his hotel room where he was also drinking.

However, a point came when he could not contain his anger and smashed a mirror in his room with a whisky bottle.

He then stumbled out, cursing manager Shujauddin. His behaviour was reported to Mushtaq when Sarfraz Nawaz, Mudassar Nazar, Zaheer Abbas and Sadiq Mohammad, who were at the hotel bar near the lobby, saw Raja stumbling over sofas and abusing Shujauddin for trying to destroy his career.

Mushtaq rushed from his room to the hotel lobby and managed to calm Raja down. He told him that the manager had actually wanted Raja to play in the Test and that it was his (Mushtaq’s) and Asif Iqbal’s decision not to play him.

He told Raja that Pakistan had a long series against West Indies after the Australian tour and there will be ample chance for him to play his part.

Though Raja apologised to Shujauddin, the manager got a call from Kardar demanding that Raja be disciplined and sent back home.

This was ironic because during Pakistan’s 1975 home series against West Indies, when (during the first Test in Lahore), some Urdu newspapers had accused Raja of taking the field drunk and exchanging ‘obscene gestures’ with the crowd, Kardar had ignored the issue.

What’s more, when Raja went on to crack a century in the second Test in Karachi, Kardar is reported to have told a selector, ‘If this is what drink does to him, then he should remain this way all the time!’

The maverick: Wasim Raja

Nevertheless, when Kardar ordered Raja’s return from Australia, Mushtaq vetoed the idea. Raja would eventually go on to pile over 500 runs in the five-Test series against West Indies that Pakistan would narrowly lose 2-1.

Haroon Rasheed was given the chance to make his Test debut in Sydney. He came in at the expense of fast bowler, Asif Masood.

Another seam bowler who had played in Melbourne, Salim Altaf, too was dropped and Sarfraz Nawaz, who had missed the second Test due to injury, returned.

The Sydney pitch looked to be a sporting one. It was expected to help the fast men but was also expected to be helpful to batsmen who were willing to play their strokes.

Mushtaq lost the toss. He was sure that Australian skipper, Greg Chappell, would ask Pakistan to bat first. He was already picturing his batsmen struggling again, facing the pace of men like Lillee, Walker and Gilmour. He was thus shocked when Greg decided that Australia would bat first.

When Mushtaq was leading his team in, he wondered whether Pakistan was a bowler short. He was only playing two pacemen, Imran and Sarfraz.

When he reached at the centre of the ground he looked at the pitch again. It was a green-top, but was expected to turn brown after lunch underneath the hot Sydney sun.

However, from the end Imran was expected to bowl, Mushtaq observed a dark green spot that was about nine inches in width just near the good length area. Mushtaq was sure this spot would remain fresh compared to the rest of the pitch. He asked Imran to target that spot.

Chappell’s decision to bat first soon backfired when Imran and Sarfraz reduced Australia to 38 for 4. Chappell and Cosier repaired the early damage a bit and took the score to 100. This is when Imran began to hit the spot identified by Mushtaq. He removed Chappell and Cosier to make Australia 125 for 6. This became 148 for 8 when Sarfraz removed Marsh and Imran got rid of O’Keeffe.

Gilmour helped to take the score to 159 when he was taken out by Sarfraz. Pakistan was then frustrated by a dogged last wicket partnership between Walker and Lillee.

The pair took the score past 200 and Pakistan’s two pacers were tiring. Mushtaq had used occasional medium-pace bowler, Asif Iqbal, to give Imran and Sarfraz a breather, but when none of them were able to dislodge the last Australian pair he tried himself (leg-break) and Iqbal Qasim (left-arm-spin), for a few overs but to no avail.

Haroon Rashid. Fighting knock.

Finally, he tossed the ball to 19-year-old Javed Miandad. It worked. In his second over he finally managed to trap Lillee LBW. Australia were all out for 211.

But was that all the Aussies needed, considering how the pitch was helping the seamers and how the Australian fast bowlers had troubled the Pakistanis in Melbourne?

Pakistan began their reply on the second day. The established opening pair of Sadiq and Majid started well and quickly took the score to 42 when Sadiq fell. But then so did Zaheer and Mushtaq in quick succession and Pakistan were soon reduced to 77 for 3. At 111, the well set Majid perished and Pakistan found itself in a spot of bother.

Gary Gilmour.

Asif Iqbal tried to settle things down with debutant Haroon Rasheed. Lillee and Gilmour hurled a series of bouncers at him. The Australian slip fielders taunted Haroon, telling him to go back to Pakistan. And every time a bouncer would hit Haroon, the crowd would roar, ‘Lillee, Lillee, kill, kill!’

But Haroon hung on, quietly guided by Asif, until both completed their fifties and pushed the score to 205. Chappell, who had now begun to worry, was relieved when Gilmour finally removed Haroon for a valiant 57.

Young Miandad now joined Asif, who was playing beautifully. Mushtaq had asked Javed to just stay at the wicket as a support to Asif. Miandad did just that, till Asif reached his century. Both Javed and Asif helped Pakistan cross 300 and begin piling an impressive lead when Asif finally got out for a brilliant 126.

Asif Iqbal.

Pakistan was all out after lunch on the third day for 360, leading the Australians by 149.

The pitch seemed to have slowed down and looked good for batting. The Australians were expected to not only knock off the lead but also give a fighting total for Pakistan to chase. After all, Australia was the best team in the world at the time.

The Australian openers started steadily, pushing the score to 32 when Turner tried to drive a Sarfraz outswinger but only managed to edge it to Majid at first slip. Soon after a sharp, lifting delivery from Imran saw McCosker fending and nicking the ball to wicketkeeper Bari. Australia 41 for 2.

The Pakistan dressing room erupts with applause as Asif Iqbal reaches his century. (From left [sitting]): Haroon Rasheed, Majid Khan, Sadiq Mohammad, Taslim Arif and Imran Khan.(Standing from left): Saleem Altaf, Wasim Bari and Sarfraz Nawaz.

With the score at 51, Imran got Davis caught by Haroon, and another one of Sarfaraz’s outswingers removed the dangerous Chappell, caught behind. At 75, the solid Garry Cosier nicked yet another Sarfraz outswinger to Bari. Australia were left reeling at 75 for 5.

Sarfraz removes the solid Gary Cosier. (From left): Sadiq, Mushtaq, Sarfraz, Zaheer (hidden), Imran, Javed and Cosier.

With the score at 99, the dependable Walter’s bat came down late to meet a quick Imran delivery that took the bat’s edge and gave Bari his fourth catch of the innings. 99 for 6 then became 99 for 7 when the left-handed Gilmour tried to pull an Imran bouncer but was brilliantly caught by Zaheer in the deep. Zaheer broke his glasses in the process.

Pakistan was on its way. It had never won a Test in Australia. The historic victory got even closer when Sarfraz removed O’Keeffe. With 8 down for just 115, Australia was facing a possible innings defeat.

But Lillee and Marsh had other ideas. They dug in and pushed Australia past 149, saving the team from an innings defeat.

When both the players continued and pushed the score past 160, Imran and Sarfraz began to bowl a series of bouncers to them. The umpires intervened and warned them for ‘dangerous bowling with intent to hurt.’

Mushtaq arguing with the umpire. Substitute fielder Raja looks on as Imran (behind the umpire) stands in a huff.

Mushtaq asked one of the umpires why was he silent when the Australian bowlers were bowling bouncers to Pakistani batsmen.

Marsh and Lillee went on scoring and occupying the crease. Khan began to bowl bouncers to Lillee again. Lillee fell on his back as he tried to move away from a vicious lifter from Khan.

The huge crowd booed. Lillee complained to the umpire. The umpire again warned Imran. Mushtaq again asked the same question: ‘Why didn’t you say anything when he (Lillee) was targeting our tail-enders?’

‘Nothing doing,’ the umpire replied. ‘You are intentionally trying to hurt the batsman. Ask him (Imran) to stop, or I will remove him.’

Marsh and Imran exchange some not-so-friendly words.

Mushtaq loudly asked Imran to stop bowling bouncers to Lillee. Imran was furious. But when he reached at the top of his bowling mark, Mushtaq ran up to him and said: ‘Aim the next one between the f@^#&)er’s eyes!’

Pakistanis were turning the tables here. They had become what the Australians had been to them throughout the first two Tests.

Marsh finally run out!

Imran also aimed between Marsh’s eyes as he ducked and fended. And every time Imran would bowl a bouncer, Javed Miandad, fielding in the covers, would rush in towards the batsman, and tell him: ‘You enjoying? And now he keel you.’

Marsh and Imran exchanged a barrage of abuses and curses, till Pakistan finally managed to break the stubborn partnership when Marsh got run out.

The eventful third day ended with Australia 180 for 9, or just 31 runs ahead. Pakistan was now on the verge of a famous victory.

The fourth day’s play was shown live on PTV (a rarity in those days). Imran immediately removed Lillee to bag his second six-wicket haul in the match.

Pakistan just needed 32 to win. But the runs came with a few hiccups. Bowling really fast, Lillee removed Sadiq and Zaheer. But Majid was fluent, striking two beautiful boundaries.

Mushtaq came in at 22 for 2, but didn’t have to do much when Majid struck another exquisite boundary and then pulled a vicious Lillee bouncer for a towering six.

Pakistan won by 8 wickets and also squared the series 1-1.

Mushtaq and Imran celebrate the victory.

Sources:
Inside, Out: Mushtaq Mohammad (JMD Publishers, 2006)
Pakistan Book of Cricket 1977: Qamar Ahmad
Cutting Egde: Javed Miandad (Oxford University Press, 2003)
The Pakistan Cricketer (December 1976-January 1977)
‘The Ugly Australians’: Asif Iqbal (The Pakistan Cricketer December 1976)

5th Test vs India at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, March 13-17 1987

In January 1987, an 18-member Pakistan squad arrived in India to play five Tests and six ODIs. Captained by Imran Khan, the team had been playing the four-nation Benson & Hedges ODI tournament in Australia before the Indian tour and in which it managed to reach the final but was beaten by England.

Imran was made captain in 1982 but stepped down in 1984 when a stress fracture in one of shins failed to heal. He returned to the team in 1985 (under Javed Miandad), and was once again made captain in 1986.

Though the team’s performance before the Indian tour was not as dazzling as it had been during Imran’s first stint as skipper (1982-84), it wasn’t disastrous either.

But Imran was under tremendous pressure when he arrived in India, not only because his team was facing arch-rival India in its own backyard, but also because Pakistani middle-order batsman, Qasim Umar (after the ODI tournament in Australia), had begun to whisper certain awkward secrets about the Pakistani dressing room.

Umar had clashed with Imran on a number of occasions in Australia. When Khan refused to select him for the Indian tour, Umar told the press that Khan was ‘a narcissist’ and ‘exhibited favouritism.’ He later went on to add that Imran and most of the players were ‘habitual drug users (hashish)’ and regularly brought women into their hotel rooms. He also called the players ‘binge drinkers.’

Umar was quickly hushed up and then handed a life ban by the Pakistan cricket board. The board did not want to attract controversy because it was set to host the 1987 World Cup (jointly with India) in later in the year.

A section of the Pakistani press was pushing for an inquiry into the matter when an 18-member Pakistani cricket squad landed in India on January 18, 1987.

• Imran Khan | (Captain) | 34 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman and right-arm-fast
• Javed Miandad | (Vice Captain) | 29 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman
• Rameez Raja | 24 | Lahore | Right-Handed opening batsman
• Shoaib Mohammed | 27 | Karachi | Right-handed opening batsman
• Mudassar Nazar | 30 | Lahore | Right-handed opening batsman
• Saleem Malik |19 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman
• Rizwan-uz Zaman | 27 | Karachi | Right-handed opening batsman
• Ijaz Ahmed | 18 | Sialkot | Right-handed batsman
• Asif Mujtaba | 19 | Karachi | Left-handed batsman and occasional left-arm leg-spin
• Manzoor Elahi | 19 | Sahiwal | Right-handed batsman and right arm medium fast
• Saleem Yousuf | 27 | Karachi | Wicketkeeper and right-handed batsman
• Zulqarnain Zaidi | 19 | Lahore | Wicketkeeper and right-handed batsman
• Iijaz Fakhi | 30 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman and right-arm off-break
• Abdul Qadir | 31 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break
• Tauseef Ahmed | 28 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman and right-arm off-break
• Wasim Akram | 20 | Lahore | Left-handed batsman and left-arm fast
• Saleem Jaffar | 19 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman and left-arm fast-medium
• Zakir Khan | 23 | Peshawar | Right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium
Joined later:
• Iqbal Qasim | 32 | Karachi | Left-handed batsman and slow-left-arm-spin
• Younis Ahmed | 39 | Lahore| Left-handed batsman

Imran, WasimAkram, Saleem Jafar and Saleem Yousuf.

The first four of the five Tests ended in dull draws. The pitches were flat and slow and both the captains, Imran and Kapil Dev, were not willing to play any positive cricket.

The crowds turned up in huge numbers but by the fourth Test they began to express their frustration over the dull and slow pace of the matches. The Test in Ahmedabad was marred by constant crowd trouble and twice Imran led his players off the field when his fielders on the boundary were attacked with stones, pebbles and rotten fruit.

Imran accused the Indian team and board of preparing dead wickets and of playing negative cricket. Kapil Dev thought it was Pakistan that was being too defensive. Though in between the Tests Pakistan was hammering the Indians in the ODI series, no team was willing to lose the more important Test rubber.

Criticised by the fans and the press, the Indian cricket authorities decided to prepare a ‘sporting track’ for the fifth and last Test in Bangalore.

Before the start of the third Test, Imran had believed that Pakistan didn’t have enough left-handed batsmen to neutralise India’s strong spin attack. So he asked the Pakistan board to lift the ban on Younis Ahmed and send him over to India.

Younis Ahmed had made his Test debut in 1969 but was banned by the Pakistan cricket board when he visited South Africa with an English club side in 1973.

South Africa in those days was under a racist (apartheid) regime and was boycotted by a majority of countries.

Younis moved to England and became a prolific batsman in County Cricket. Though 39, when recalled into the side in 1987, he was still active in County Cricket.

He played two Tests in India but was not played in the last Test.

Another late addition to the side was veteran left-arm spinner, Iqbal Qasim. Qasim had gradually been nudged out from the side by Abdul Qadir in the early 1980s.

But Qadir’s form slumped during the Indian series. Vice-Captain Javed Miandad suggested calling up Iqbal Qasim who was still active in Pakistan’s first-class cricket circuit.

Imran disagreed. But Javed persisted and Qasim finally joined the team after the second Test. Though Pakistan had toured India in 1984, its last major trip took place in 1979 when the team (under Asif Iqbal) lost a 6-Test series 2-0.

That tour was marred by rumours and reports about Pakistani players spending more time at night clubs and having affairs with Bollywood actresses than concentrating on cricket.

Imran had been at the centre of these reports, so when he returned to India in 1987 (he didn’t tour in 1984), the Indian media once again put him under the spotlight.

He told his players ‘whatever you want to do, do it at the hotel.’ He also asked them to avoid speaking to the press.

When the team reached the ground to play the last Test, it found a strange looking pitch at the centre of the stadium. It was red in colour and felt brittle.

Imran and Javed thought it would be batting-friendly on the first three days and may begin to take spin on the last two. They also thought that it may also help the seamers a bit early on.

When they walked back to the dressing room to pick the final IX, they decided to play three fast bowlers (Wasim Akram, Saleem Jaffar and Imran himself) and also bring in the hard-hitting all-rounder, Manzoor Elahi (who also bowled medium fast).

Off-spinner Tauseef was in the side as well but a huge argument between Javed and Imran flared up when Imran decided to give the out-of-form Abdul Qadir another go.

Javed insisted that since the wicket was likely to start taking turn in the last two or three days of the Test, it was better to play a more in-form spinner - Iqbal Qasim.

Imran responded by saying that Qadir is likely to regain his form on a more helpful track, but Javed advised him not to take that chance. He added: ‘Qasim is a handy batsman as well and is left-handed. We need a lefty to tackle Maninder Singh’s left-arm spin.’

Imran finally agreed. He dropped Qadir and played Qasim. He then won the toss and elected to bat.

Imran and Kapil Devjust before the toss.

The pitch started to come apart right from the word go. It began to turn square from the moment India’s three spinners, Maninder Singh, Ravi Shastri and Shivlal Yadev, came on to bowl.

Pakistan was bundled out for a mere 116. Only Saleem Malik showed some resistance and made 33. Maninder Singh picked up seven wickets and was almost unplayable.

By the end of the first day, India was sitting pretty at 68 for 2. Both the wickets had gone to Tauseef, including Gavaskar’s.

In the team meeting that evening, the Pakistan think-tank had wondered why Maninder was able to turn the ball so much whereas the Pakistani spinners were not getting as much spin. It was decided that India’s score would have to be kept under 150 otherwise Pakistan would lose the game.

After the meeting Javed called up former Indian captain and classical left-arm spinner, Bishen Singh Bedi, who was also a friend of his.

He told him he was sending over Tauseef and Qasim to the hotel where Bedi was staying and requested him to give them some tips on how to bowl on the Bangalore wicket.

When the two spinners met Bedi that night, he told them that Maninder was bowling like he would on any other wicket and letting the crumbling wicket do the rest.

‘You guys are trying too hard to spin the ball.’ He said. ‘You are giving the ball too many rotations. Just bowl normally and let the pitch create its own spin.’

Bishan Singh Bedi.

Indian press was predicting India to take an impressive lead on the second day. But Tauseef broke through the defences of Mohinder Amarnath making India 71 for 3.

Then when the score progressed to 102, Qasim got Azharuddin caught by Manzoor Elahi.

Dilip Vengsarkar and Shastri guided India past Pakistan’s score and began to slowly build a lead. Tauseef removed Shastri and then with the score at 130, he got the well set Vengsarkar caught at point.

With the pitch now turning rather viciously, Qasim’s leg spin ran through the Indian tail. India was all out for 145. It had a lead of just 29 but it was a lead that was more than handy on a pitch that was literally coming apart.

Pakistan had a huge task ahead of itself. The first innings of the match had folded in only the middle of the first day’s play. Pakistan had struggled to read and play the Indian spinners and the wicket had gotten worse.

Javed thought it would be better if he opened the batting with Ramiz in the second innings. Imran agreed. They decided to play aggressively to spoil Kapil Dev’s planning who (Imran and Javed believed) was expecting Pakistan to play defensively.

Ramiz and Javed put up an opening stand of 45 before Shastri got rid of Javed. Rizwan went with the score at 57 and the Indians then finally got Ramiz who was bowled by Yadav for a well-played 47. Pakistan 89 for 3 and just 60 runs ahead.

After the fall of Ramiz’s wicket, Imran and Javed conducted yet another batting experiment. To neutralize Maninder’s spin, they promoted the left-handed Iqbal Qasim up the order and sent him to partner Saleem Malik.

Malik and Qasim added 32 important runs and pushed the score to 121 when (ironically on a turning wicket) Malik was bowled by Indian captain and premier swing bowler, Kapil Dev (who had come on to break the Malik-Qasim partnership).

Qasim then added 21 rums with Imran Khan when he was finally taken out by off-spinner Yadav for a dogged 33.

Pakistan closed the second day at 155 for 5, 126 runs ahead. Imran was still at the crease with Manzoor Elahi.

On the third day, Pakistan lost Elahi early and then with the score at 184, Wasim Akram got out. Khan was now running out of partners. He himself perished at the hands of Shastri for 39. Pakistan 198 for 8 and 169 runs ahead.

Imran believed the lead wasn’t enough. He wanted a lead of at least 220.

But Pakistan just had two wickets left.

A worried Pakistan think-tank: Imran Khan and JavedMiandad during the lunch break on day 3 of the match.

Then, as if out of nowhere, Pakistan’s gutsy wicketkeeper, Saleem Yousuf, played a little gem of an innings. He added 50 runs with Tauseef, striking four boundaries in his 41. Tauseef who partnered him well, struck just 10.

Pakistan was all out for 249 giving India 220 to win in almost two and a half days. It was now anybody’s game.

Pakistan appeared on the field after the tea break, all pumped up by Yousuf’s innings. It needed to strike early to keep India under pressure. And that’s exactly what it did.

Javed wanted Imran to open the bowling with the spinners. Imran instead tossed the ball to Akram. The ploy worked. With the score at 15, Akram first trapped the flamboyant Kris Srikkanth LBW and then with a zippy outswinger made Amarnath edge the ball to Saleem Yousuf.

The classy Gavaskar and Vengsarkar then managed to repair the early damage a bit and pushed the score to 64 when Vengsarkar was clean bowled, failing to defend a sharp turning delivery by Tauseef. India 64 for 3.

Indian keeper, Kiran More, came in as night-watchman but with the score at 80, Tauseef got rid of him as well. The stylish Azharuddin joined Gavaskar and both closed the third day’s play by taking India to 99 for 4.

It was now more than apparent that the Test would not go beyond the fourth day. Both the teams were in a position to win the game and with it the series.

Gavaskar was shaping up well and had the highly talented Azharuddin on the other end. Both walked in on the day 4, looking to gradually knock off the remaining 119 runs that India needed to win the Test.

The pair slowly pushed the score past 120. But at 123 a sharp off-break from Tauseef pushed Azharuddin to play the ball on the back foot but he completely missed it and was clean bowled!

Pakistan celebrates Azhar’s fall.

Shastri came in and perhaps played the slowest innings of his life. He was clearly instructed by his captain to just defend his wicket and let Gavaskar do all the scoring. And Gavaskar did.

The Pakistani players had clashed with the Indian umpires on a number of occasions during the innings. But when an appeal for LBW and a close-in catch against Gavaskar were disallowed, Pakistan players rushed towards the umpire and accused him of cheating!

In fact during the second appeal, Imran and Javed turned towards Gavaskar and stared at him before the batsman calmly looked away.

VIDEO | Rare footage of Pakistani players clashing with the umpire:

On a mad, bad wicket, Gavaskar began to play the ball late, getting his runs in ones and twos.

The pair guided India past 150. But at 155, Shastri tried to push at a turning delivery from Qasim but only managed to lob it back to the bowler. India 155 for 6, still needing 65 to win and now with four wickets in hand. But the ever dependable Gavaskar was there, looking determined to take India home.

Over fifty thousand spectators had turned up to watch the fourth day’s play. But the stadium went completely silent when Qasim clean bowled Indian captain, Kapil Dev with the score at 161.

Another all-rounder, Roger Binny, walked in to partner Gavaskar.

Gavaskar was standing like a rock between Pakistan and victory. But since he was scoring runs as well, India’s unhurried march towards the target too was drawing closer.

However, with the score at 180 and Gavaskar plodding away, he tried to defend a Qasim delivery but the ball jumped and kicked from the dusty, breaking wicket, took the upper edge of his bat and flew to Rizwan-uz- Zaman at first slip who grabbed a high sharp catch. This time the umpire gave him out.

At 185 Yadav fell to Tauseef, but as last man Maninder Singh came in to join Binny and Pakistan moved closer to achieve its first ever Test series victory in India, Binny decided to launch a counter attack.

He lofted Tauseef for a huge six that landed in the packed stands in the longest part of ground. India was now just 16 runs away and Binny was threatening to take the game away from Pakistan.

Tauseef bowled a quicker one that was a tad short and did not turn much. Binny’s eyes lit up and he rocked onto his back footand went for an expansive slog to get a boundary.

He missed and the ball took the outside edge of his swinging bat and whizzed into wicketkeeper Saleem Yusuf’s gloves. There was a loud appeal for a catch behind by the Pakistanis. The umpire stood still for about 5 tense seconds and the crowd held its breath.

But just as the fielders began to run towards the umpire, he slowly raised his finger. Binny was gone. India was all out. Pakistan had won the match by just 16 runs and with it its first ever series victory in India.

Sources:
Cutting Edge: JavedMiandad (Oxford University Press, 2003)
An All-Round View: Imran Khan (Chatto&Windus, 1988)
The Pakistan Cricketer: (March, 1987)

1st Test vs India at Chindambaram Stadium, Chennai, January 28-31, 1999.

In January 1999, the Pakistan team toured India for a two-Test series. This was Pakistan’s first Test tour of India after 1987. The relations between the two countries had nosedived in 1998 when both the governments conducted multiple nuclear tests.

However, later that year, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart, Atal Bihari Vajpaee, met in Lahore to defuse the tension.

The meeting was vehemently (and at times violently) opposed by the radical right-wing groups on both sides of the divide.

In Pakistan the fundamentalist Jamat-i-Islami protested vehemently on the streets of Lahore during Vajpayee’s visit to Lahore and in India, fundamentalist Hindu groups like the Shiv Sena threatened to disrupt the Test matches and ODI games planned for Pakistan’s 1999 tour of India.

In January 1999, a 16-man Pakistan squad landed in the Indian capital New Delhi amidst reports that the team’s hotel was expected to be attacked.

• Wasim Akram | (Captain) | 33 | Lahore | Left-handed batsman and left-arm-fast
• Moin Khan| (Vice Captain) | 27 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman and wicketkeeper
• Saeed Anwar | 29 | Karachi | Left-handed opening batsman
• Naved Ashraf | 24 | Rawalpindi | Right-handed batsman
• WajatullahWasti | 24 | Peshawar | Right-handed opening batsman
• Shahid Afridi | 18 | Karachi | Right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break
• Ijaz Ahmed | 29 | Sialkot | Right-handed batsman
• Salim Malik | 35 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman
• Yousuf Youhana (later Mohammad Yousuf) | 24 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman
• Azhar Mahmood | 23 | Rawalpindi | Right-handed batsman and right arm medium fast
• Inzamam-ul-Haq | 28 | Multan | Right-handed batsman
• WaqarYunus | 27 | Vehari | Right-arm-fast
• Shoaib Akhtar | 24 | Rawalpindi | Right-arm-fast
• Mushtaq Ahmed | 28 | Sahiwal | Right-handed batsman and right-arm -leg-break
• Saqlain Mushtaq | 22 | Lahore | Right-handed batsman and right-arm off-break
• Nadeem Khan | 29 | Karachi | Left-handed batsman and slow-left-arm spin
- Manager: Shahryar Khan. Coach: Javed Miandad.

Pakistan captain Wasim Akram talking to Indian media.

Throughout the 1990s the Pakistan team was considered to be one of the top sides in world cricket. In that decade it had produced a string of genuine fast bowlers, quality spinners and flamboyant batsmen.

But the decade was also a turbulent period for the team that (between 1992 and 1999) saw the coming and going of multiple captains, bitter infighting and accusations of match-fixing.

Javed Miandad who had taken over the captaincy from Imran Khan in 1992, was toppled in a ‘player’s coup in 1993 engineered by Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Wasim was made captain but he too was toppled in a similar coup (this time by Waqar and Mushtaq Ahmed) in 1994.

Saleem Malik was made the ‘compromise captain’ but was removed in 1995 (by the cricket board) when players like Rashid Latif and Basit Ali accused him of match-fixing.

Malik was replaced by Ramiz Raja. But in 1996 he made way for Akram’s return as skipper. Akram, however, resigned after Pakistan lost to India in the quarterfinals of the 1996 World Cup.

Akram was briefly replaced bySaeed Anwar and then Aamer Sohail. Sohail resigned after clashing with the cricket board and accusing the players of not cooperating with him.

Akram returned for his third and final stint as skipper which would not only be his longest but also his most successful.

He and Saleem Malik were the only surviving members of the Pakistan side that had last toured India in 1987. After arriving in India he confessed that the tour was the toughest series he has played as captain due to the political tensions between India and Pakistan and the threats that his players faced from extremist groups.

Even before the first Test had kicked off in Chennai, Shiv Sena activists had entered the stadium in New Delhi (that was to host the second Test) at night and dug up its pitch.

The destroyed pitch at New Delhi’s Ferozshah Kotla Stadium.

The Chennai police also received reports that Sena activists were planning to disrupt the first Test by releasing thousands of poisonous snakes into the stadium.

When the team reached the stadium in Chennai for the first Test, it found the stadium packed with fans. However, armed guards and security personnel patrolled outside the entry gates of the stadium and many were also posted on the roofs of the stadium’s stands.

The pitch had some grass but seemed good for batting. Akram won the toss and elected to bat. Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi opened the batting for Pakistan. But with the score at 32, Afridi was squared up by a zippy Srinath outswinger and caught by Ganguly at first slip.

At 41 Pakistan lost Anwar and then quickly collapsed to 91 for 5.

Saeed Anwar and manager Miandad looking distraught after Pakistan’s batting collapse.

Yousuf Youhana and Moin Khan stabled the ship a bit and guided Pakistan to 154 when Youhana was trapped LBW by the make-shift off-spin of Sachin Tendulkar. He made 53.

Akram came in to join Moin. Both began to play a bit more aggressively. The pair took the score to 214 after which India finally managed to get rid of Moin who made a valiant 60.

However, Moin’s departure saw Pakistan being bundled out for just 238. What’s more, India struck a quick 48 (for no loss) by the end of the first day’s play.

Pakistan got its first breakthrough in the first session of the second day’s play when Akram removed the stylish Laxman with the score at 67. 67 for 1 soon became 71 for 2 when Akram also removed the second opener, Sadagoppan Ramesh.

Almost immediately, Saqlain got the prized- wicket of Tendulkar, caught by Saleem Malik. India was now tottering at 72 for 3. Azharuddin went at 103 but Dravid and Ganguly managed to stem the rot and pushed the score past 150 when Dravid fell, padding up to a straight one from Saqlain Mushtaq.

Ganguly’s fifty and some last minute hitting from Sunil Joshi helped India reach 254 (all out), gaining a 26 runs lead. Saqlain picked up five wickets.

Saqlain grabs Akram after grabbing yet another Indian wicket.

In its second innings, Pakistan lost Saeed Anwar early and at the end of the second day’s play it was 34 for 1, just 8 runs ahead.

Inzi out after cracking 51.

Ijaz Ahmed was sent packing at the start of the third day but Inzamam and Afridi added a quick-fire 92 for the fourth wicket, both sprinting past their fifties in style.

Inzamam fell when the score was 139 but Afridi kept playing his strokes and soon posted his first Test century.

Youhana went with the score at 169. But now Salim Malik got together with Afridi and both enjoyed a brisk partnership of over a hundred runs. Malik finally fell with the score at 275.

But when Afridi got out at 279, Pakistan’s batting quickly folded and it was all out for 286.

Afridi’s 141 had helped Pakistan set a challenging target of 271 for India to chase.

Young Afridi relaxes after striking his highest Test score.

VIDEO | Afridi’s century:

India’s chase began disastrously. An out-of-form Waqar Younis, who had been selected in the playing IX ahead of Pakistan’s newest tearaway fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar, finally found some form when he removed both the Indian openers within a span of just 6 runs.

India closed the third day’s play at 40 for 2. The fourth day too started well for Pakistan when Akram cleaned up Dravid. Azharuddin and Ganguly followed, both bagged by Saqlain. India 82 for 5.

Pakistan went to lunch almost convinced of achieving victory.

Akram and Miandad relax during lunch on the fourth day.

But as Tendulkar and Mongia went about repairing India’s innings, Pakistan began to slightly panic. The pair first took India past 150 and then 200. Soon, India just needed 52 to win with five wickets still in hand.

Tendulkar was playing brilliantly; middling the ball and making the Pakistani bowlers (suddenly) look rather ordinary. He quickly reached his century.

Mongia began playing his shots as well but with the score at 218 he tried to loft Akram out of the ground but only managed to sky the ball towards Waqar who ran in and held a most important catch at mid-off.

Joshi came in and just blocked, letting a rampaging Tendulkar do all the scoring. The pair took the score past 250.

Then at 254 India just needed 16 to win and it still had four wickets in hand. Surely, Pakistan was staring at defeat now?

It sure seemed that way - until Tendulkar tried to lift Saqlain over mid-on for a boundary. The ball seemed to hang high in the air for ages. Akram ran in and placed himself underneath it and cupped it successfully. The Indian fans went quiet and the Pakistanis went ballistic!

Tendulkar goes!

But India had only 16 to win with three wickets still in hand. However, just two runs later, Pakistan again turned the tables when it got two quick wickets, leaving India 14 to get and just one wicket in hand.

Akram trapped Kumble in front of the wicket and then Joshi gave Saqlain his fourth wicket, out caught-and-bowled.

Srinath and Prasad added two runs and India now needed just 12. But Saqlain produced a jumpy off-break to Srinath which the batsman went back to defend. He was successful, but the ball hit the ground and rolled back to hit the stumps. Pakistan won.

VIDEO | India’s last wicket falls. Pakistan wins:

Earlier this week, Senator Mushahid Hussain presented a bill titled ‘Cyber Security Council Bill 2014’ in the Pakistan Senate. The bill, if passed by the parliament, will result in the creation of a dedicated council assigned to draft policy, guidelines and strategy on cyber security issues, as well as monitor relevant legislation, in accordance with ‘international best practices.’

On the surface, the bill presents itself as largely progressive and useful when it comes to strengthening the Pakistani information groundwork from alleged cyber-attacks (especially between India and Pakistan), external surveillance (especially NSA), and other threats. This is all good, as the security and upkeep of information infrastructure is one of the prime responsibilities of the Pakistani government.

However, the issue of ridding cyberspace of all alleged evils at large through government prescribed action, especially from the perspective of human rights, has never been as simple as it is usually made to appear.

For starters, it is important to observe that the council will have representation from a diverse range of backgrounds, such as the government, academia, and representatives of corporate interest, but there is no provision for this council to be joined by advocates and experts from the human rights and civil society fora.

However, there is specific provision for globally acclaimed ‘Enemies of the Internet’, such as the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), to actively participate as a part of the proposed council’s ‘Operational Advisory Group ’.

Once passed, the bill, with its existing excessively vague policy language, will allow the proposed council’s members a broad range of powers, with little or no space for being challenged by those who are critical of the government’s violations.

Given the state's track record, it is widely accepted that the country’s continuing information controls and legal regime have largely strengthened legislation in favour of authorities making civilians, especially human rights defenders and journalists, the target of a wide range of violations.

The bill, in its responsibilities, does not even once mention the development of safeguards for protecting individuals and their fundamental rights to privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information, which are actively being trampled upon by the authorities under the exploitative pretext of ‘national security’.

Also read: Homeland: E-Security

It is not possible to deny that a country’s sovereignty is only as important as the wellbeing of the residents within the country’s boundaries.

Furthermore, it may not be a far stretch to question how the role of the proposed council will play in unison with the implementation of the highly criticised anti human rights legislation such as the Fair Trial Act, Pakistan Protection Ordinance, and the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, each of which carry the potential to rip apart fundamental rights, especially in the context of the digital realm.

Whereas Senator Hussain’s presentation of the bill directly refers to the breach of Pakistani sovereignty by NSA surveillance as an important reason for Cyber Security Council, the most important question remains unanswered:

Is Pakistan’s sovereignty only about protecting certain ideals of security, or are the people of the country who are being cannibalistically subjected by the government to illegal mass surveillance and censorship also a part of the equation?

After the Snowden leaks, there is ample evidence to prove that mass surveillance by predators such as the NSA is not just limited to the use of sophisticated technology breaking though unsuspecting users’ weak firewalls across the globe. A large number of violations have taken place through the use of backdoors and secret surveillance deals with makers of proprietary software.

In fact, the Pakistani government itself, has one such censorship deal with Facebook. Therefore, it is important to assess if the responsibilities of the proposed council would also extend to pushing for an end to use of imported predatory surveillance and censorship technology such as Finfisher and Netsweeper, which may very well be sharing every bit of data that they come across with patronising countries such as the five eyes.

Also read: Cyberstalking: New challenges

Therefore, with only NSA playing the role of global villain post Snowden leaks, the bill fails to address the Pakistani government’s violations of privacy of its people in case of any dubious information sharing or surveillance arrangement(s) with countries deemed as political allies.

While some parts of the bill may actually help improve Pakistan’s cyber security situation, if used in the context of political cyber warfare, for example, it is essential to revisit the proposed legislation holistically.

Such legislation needs to be rewritten in light of human rights implications, and the existing draconian information control regime that the government - under influence from the country’s security establishment - is so ardently creating.

The area around Multan’s New Delhi Gate is an old one; inhabited long before Pakistan was a country and love for it a prerogative.

The houses in the area are small and the opportunities are smaller still. In the little hovels, families eke out their livings and hope for a windfall. When their own dreams do not provide routes to the better jobs, to easier lives and the prettier wives, they look to holy men, and their mix of faith and magic.

Such was the case of the very ordinary and very wanting Qureshi family. Their home was tiny, a dark and old two rooms in a sad building in a decaying neighborhood. The smells of the past lingered in them, the shreds of abandoned hopes and stalled desires. The old couple, 68-year-old Alam Qureshi and his wife had three children. Two were daughters, their gender stitched to the price tag of the dowries to be paid. The youngest of them was a son, Zeeshan Alam Qureshi on whose coming earnings the future of the family dangled.

It would have been an ordinary life, strung with the unremarkable disappointments of the usual kind. The opportunities that never came, the jealousies of neighbors, the car someone bought, the job another got.

So it would have been, if the Qureshi family had not chosen to consult who they believed was a higher authority; an aalim or religious scholar; a man who claimed to possess knowledge of other dimensions and of inexplicable truths, inaccessible to their own lowly selves.

This was not in itself an act of marked difference, the childless mothers and jobless husbands of the neighborhood near Delhi Gate were all used to such consultations, cheap routes to hopefulness when optimism was running low, frustrations boiling over and strictures and constrictions remaining as strong and unyielding as ever.

It is said that the mother went first. But while the details are murky, the consequences are not. One year ago this April, the Holy Man, goaded by whichever meager offerings the family of Qureshis living near Delhi Gate could offer him, arrived at their doorstep. His visit and the message he brought with him would change the family’s life forever.

In this, the late aftermath, it is difficult to imagine how he broke the news, or told the secret, far easier to picture the little family with nothing much, huddled together in the moments after he left.

“Our lives have changed forever,” they may have whispered to each other in the dimness of their two rooms, the old woman and the man, the two daughters and the son. A treasure was buried under the house, the holy man had told them, and their small habitation had under it something special and extraordinary. A Sikh family had lived in the same rooms, the Holy man said, and they had buried their riches in its depths before fleeing the pogroms of Partition.

If there were doubts, if there were digressions, if one of them was skeptical, if another of them was doubting, that is not known now. What we know is what they did. About a year ago last week, they, or rather him, the one son, Zeeshan Alam Qureshi began digging. In the small house thus, began the even smaller tunnel, the barely two feet wide hole that would lead them to the treasure.

Maybe they were eager when they first broke the ground and saw the earth below. Perhaps they could already see in the dark turned shovelfuls of dirt, the bags of gold, the luster of left behind necklaces and bangles peeping through the earth to which they were entrusted 60 long years before. The girls may have giggled, everyone would have hoped.

They seemed to have had enough hope to go on for a year. One long year, despite the protests of neighbors who asked questions, heard in the no secrets nearness of poverty, the sounds of the shovel pounding the earth, saw in the dusty earth stained clothes of Zeeshan Qureshi a dangerous deal. It didn’t stop Zeeshan, goaded perhaps by his own optimism, or his mother’s urgings or his sisters’ hopes, he kept digging.

On April 13th 2014, the day the rest of the world would learn about the family near Multan’s Delhi Gate, the tunnel was deep, nearly 50 feet deep. It made sense, who would bury a treasure in a small tunnel, one easily accessed. The harder the quest to obtain a treasure, the more magnificent the trove would be.

It was on 6 pm of that day, when dusk dangled over the houses of Delhi Gate that Zeeshan’s mother called rescue workers. They had, over the year devised a system to keep in touch when the young boy slithered into the tiny tunnel, deeper and deeper into the ground. He had his cell phone and she could send him texts. She would know immediately when the treasure was found, he could signal for help if he needed it. Neither would happen.

When Mrs. Qureshi called 1122 for help she had not heard from her son for many hours. The earth that had promised a treasure had taken her son. An adjoining wall that had been next to the tunnel had also collapsed with three other people caught beneath it. The cost of one family’s greed exacting costs from unrelated others.

The rescue workers who came and shone their flashlights into the dark tunnel could not believe what they saw, an underground vein stuck so deep into the earth, so very narrow, so very dangerous. They refused to go into the tunnel; it was not safe they said. So delicate was the tunnel, so small the house, so winding the lanes that led to it that no other rescue equipment could be brought to extricate Zeeshan from the depths within which he lay.

He would not be found alive. The tunnel and the earth had caved and trapped him within it. It would take another day to extricate his corpse.

Greed and dreams entrap all of us. In the ordinary mixture of our lives, we crave the unexpected windfall, the undeserved break, and the turn that will come of its own accord and embrace us with its good fortune.

So strong is our thirst for it, so deep its attraction that it can suspend logic, the certainty of treasures we already possess, justify the farce of betting all on nothing. The beauty of the unknown life, the wished for world, fills our days in ways the real world never can. Such perhaps was the case of the Qureshi family, beckoned by the thoughts of something they did not deserve, the idea of being lucky, of being better, of being chosen by fate for something they did not earn.

Such also is the fate of Pakistan, poised on possibility, on awaiting chance, the lure of a perfect world for which everyone seems to be digging in the darkness.

In the collective disbelief of the family, lies the collective denial of a nation, believing still that the paths of ignorance, of denial, will yield for them a treasure that no one else has found. If the stupidity of the family, their greed and gullibility seems unbelievable, the devolution of Pakistan, its deliberate and intentional sinking into a world of bans and barbarity seems to others a similar descent into a tunnel, where treasure is a lie and where death is a certainty.

Probably, no one could convince the Qureshis to stop digging and in this way, the country and the family are united, one and the same, and unsusceptible to reason.

-Illustration by Fahad Naveed.

Karachi has arrived. And it seems to be having a curious effect on its citizens, many of whom are moved to write tortured paeans to it in lyrical prose; a veritable cornucopia for the city dwellers’ soul.

Karachi teases and tantalises, it infuriates and amazes, it energises and depletes. Are you getting the drift? The juxtaposition of opposites? The ingenious fusion of content and style? The contrasts of the megapolis encapsulated in the antithetical patterning of prose? Never has it been more popular to write about the city. Many have risen to the challenge, and many are going to continue to do so. But why are so many people suddenly moved to such profound effusion?

They do so out of charity and goodwill. The Karachi article is no ordinary article – it is the writers’ noble quest to make sense of the chaos of the city, an attempt to resolve the polarities they face every single day.

Also see: Karachi Time Machine

The fact that anything they have to say will be swallowed whole by a voracious press and provide them with the gratification of publication has very little to do with their motives which are, without a doubt, well meaning and worthy. They write not to exploit, but to enquire, to discover and to defend.

And they do so in ways that are infinitely imitable, thereby ensuring that anyone can write about the city. This is to their credit, for the key to representation is not quality but quantity.

By following the basic tips outlined below, you, too, can climb the Karachi donkey cart every time Karachi is under crisis. There is a story under every rubble stone. Here is how to tell it

1. Apply a tortured metaphor (preferably oxymoronic) – Karachi is a neglected wife, a beloved schizophrenic, a furnace of violence and passion, a ticking time bomb, a poetic gunshot, a majestic explosion. Not only will metaphors allow you to conserve on word limit, they will leave enough ambiguity so that you will be saved from actually explaining what you mean under the mantle of poetic license.

2. Personify the city. Talk to her. We all know that second person narratives are in vogue. O Karachi, you must be saved. You must be hugged, you must be loved and you must be rescued. O, Karachi, do not ask me who is to rescue you. I cannot get into facts while I am waxing lyrical.

3. Get into an alliterative frenzy full of abstract nouns so no troll can bother you in the comments section by asking questions about specific details. So Karachi is bold, beautiful, buzzing. It is dazzling, dangerous and daring. It is wanton, warm-hearted, wary. It is cultured, crime-ridden, cut-throat, callous (but of course, stoically calm amidst all the ravages).

4. To uphold the morale of Karachi, make extensive comparisons to the West – so readers can see the hidden potential that you have glimpsed. Equate Zamzama with Bond Street and I I Chundrigar Road with Wall Street. Tell them that Karachi is the New York of Pakistan. But since most overcrowded and urban third world megacities make the same claim, you can aim for originality and say that it was once dubbed the Paris of the East. In fact, if you look hard enough and go to Saddar, you can see old Britain in its buildings and even make a documentary about how Cambridge and Karachi are actually tremendously similar.

5. Sentences. Without verbs. Karachi. A melting pot. City of tragedy. City of hope. Et cetera. Et cetera.

6. Talk about the people. The people are its salvation. Tell them not to get bogged down by water shortages, electric breakdowns, transportation strikes, targeted killings, bomb blasts and all the like. And tell them to stop associating Karachi with only negativity just because you have listed it all down all over again. Tell them that they must keep positive. The world is their hand grenade.

7. Make sure you talk about the ‘fibre’ of Karachi and its resilience. You have heard of other cities that decided to wrap up and go home because the going got too tough? Just.Stopped.Existing. It happens all the time. So unfortunate. In this context, do mention the slum dwellers, the survivors of sectarian bombings and all such victims who unfortunately don’t write romantic articles about the city because they are too busy surviving to write about survival.

8. Talk about the places you love in Karachi. Let the reader glean what he will from your experiences, but make sure you talk about Lyari, Botal Gali and all non-tish tosh areas that are unusual and exotic, areas which your audience probably doesn’t know about so you can show how awami you are. Make sure you add something semi-derogatory about Clifton and Defence to compound the effect.

At the end of it all, take heed, for there will be many readers who will attack you for producing yet another unoriginal piece of writing. If this happens, you can always say that writing about any city is destined to fall into these clichés, that the destiny of 'The Karachi Article' is doomed, because the city is doomed. (See that false syllogism that will have everyone running round in an endless loop?)

Or you can say your failure was a deliberate one, thereby turning it into an unassuming victory. If anyone points out that you are contradicting yourself, say this is only because Karachi itself is a maze of contradictions. Tell them that an article about Karachi which does not befuddle and bemuse is not authentic; it is not true to the soul of the city.

Karachi is dying, but there is value in its dying breath and the recording of each breath is worthy and not at all opportunistic. I am sure you will rise to the challenge and stand tall like the historic Habib Bank building — the Empire State Building of Pakistan.

- This article was published in The Herald's April issue.

The formula

'The Winter Soldier', regardless of his star billing along Captain America in the title, is just window dressing. The real plot here is about S.H.I.E.L.D – the espionage agency headed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) – the terrorist team Hydra, and how Steve Rogers (aka Captain America played by Chris Evans) becomes a fugitive of the government when he learns about an intelligent, and quite deadly, piece of weaponry.

A scene from movie, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". – Courtesy Photo

He has some friends in the mix too: Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and ex-Pararescueman Sam Wilson (a very charismatic Anthony Mackie), with a brief supporting role by Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders).

A scene from movie, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". –Courtesy Photo

The action in Winter Soldier doesn’t skim on the big bucks, as buildings and cars topple whenever enemies target Steve and company. The screenplay, by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, is unapologetic about public damage – or the overbearing, custom-fitted espionage subplot.

A scene from movie, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". –Courtesy Photo

When they speak – which is one-third of the movie – Steve, Natasha and Sam, are engaging. And they should be too, because we’ve seen them (not counting Mackie) on-screen too many times in different movies to not care. This would also explain why there’s very little character development in the movie, or why the actors aren’t pushing their performances.

The final word

Despite little originality in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, there’s not much going against it. Being an obligatory sequel in a much bigger thread of Marvel movies, the movie is made with the intention of being likeable, undemanding and acceptable.

Released by Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is rated PG-13 featuring usual super-heroics.

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo; Produced by Kevin Feige; Written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely; Cinematography by Trent Opaloch; Edited by Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt; Music by Henry Jackman.

Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Hayley Atwell, Toby Jones, Robert Redford and Samuel L. Jackson.

Glamour has been an intrinsic part of every Indian elections and the battle for 16th Lok Shabha isn’t any different. The Dance of Democracy explores celebrities involved on either side of biggest democratic election process in the universe...

Every time India goes to elections the entire process ends up resembling a carnival of sorts. It’s ironic that nearly a sixth of humanity exercises its right to choose it’s representatives and we end up calling it a dance of democracy or some such. Perhaps the overwhelming presence of Bollywood stars and celebrities such as cricketers, singers and the likes make it all a big tamasha. Besides being one of the most important elections in recent times, the 2014 Indian Elections also happen to be one that would feature a record number of celebrities contesting across parties.

As a general rule of thumb most Bollywood stars try to come across neutral, and at times, even mute spectators when it comes to politics. At the end of the day, nothing matters more to Hindi cinema than cash registers ringing and a certain level of political nonalignment makes it easier.

Prithviraj Kapoor

The trend of attaching Bollywood stars to politics started way back in the 1960s when Prithviraj Kapoor, the patriarch of Hindi cinema’s first family, became the first actor to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Indian Parliament. Most film stars such as Sunil Dutt and his wife, Nargis, entertained troops guarding the borders and even contributed to welfare funds.

During the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi a few stars namely Dev Anand, Kishore Kumar, and Shatrughan Sinha refused to tow the Congress party’s diktats and found themselves targets of Income Tax raids and other state dictated measures. Dev Anand even went on to form a political party called the Nationalist Party and found great support amongst the people of what then used to Bombay. It’s a different story that the evergreen legend decided not to contest elections because he couldn’t imagine serving the people half-heartedly.

Sunil and Nargis Dutt

It was during this period that Nargis Dutt found herself nominated to the Rajya Sabha and the trend of getting big stars to ascertain their political affinity gained momentum. Perhaps the fervor with which Dev Anand roused the masses made a lasting impression on Rajiv Gandhi that could have prompted him to field the biggest star of the day against a political stalwart.

The Amitabh Bachchan victory over H.N. Bahuguna, a former Congress bigwig who joined the Bhartiya Janta Party in his own backyard was the first such instance where Bollywood’s magnetism was used for political gains. A few years later Rajiv made Rajesh Khanna fight L. K. Advani in New Delhi and Khanna almost thwarted the future Deputy Prime Minister of India.

Amitabh Bachchan

Initially celebs would be used to attract crowds during campaign and their endorsements would get people to reciprocate, something that was quite common in South Indian politics.

The state of Tamil Nadu had seen the likes of big stars such as Sivaji Ganesan and M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) be staunch sympathisers of the DMK, and later Ramachandran floated his own outfit and even became a three-term Chief Minister.

But unlike their southern counterparts, Bollywood stars often played supporting roles and many a times lost all utility once they met their purpose. Bachchan quit within a few months of becoming a MP and Khanna couldn’t go beyond being someone who almost soured Advani’s party.

Govinda

Yet, time after time, almost all political parties turned to Bollywood stars to accomplish the near impossible. By 2004, Govinda had been long past his sell by date but the Congress party pitched hero no. 1 against Ram Naik, a stalwart MP and the Petroleum Minister in the then BJP government. Govinda ousted the incumbent North Bombay MP in such a manner that the senior politician who had defeated cancer in 1993 called it a day. But five years later, Govinda had nothing to show for his tenure in Parliament where he spoke for just two minutes and had a less than 15 per cent attendance.

It’s not like all actor-turned-politicians continue to limit themselves to attracting crowds or causing historical upsets. Amongst all Hindi actors who joined politics, it was only Sunil Dutt who never allowed his stardom to overshadow his public service. Respected across party lines, Dutt was a five-term and even held a cabinet post while continuing to work for his electorate till the very end.

Some like Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha seem to have struck a balance between being an actor and MPs, or even cabinet minsters, while some like Dharmendra had no idea why they entered politics. A visibly unprepared Dharmendra got a taste of the ugliness of politics when he was inundated by questions about his marriage to Hema Malini and his alleged conversion to Islam, and rarely attended Parliament.

Shatrughan Sinha [L], Dharmendra [C] and Vinod Khanna [R]

The 2014 General Elections has more celebrities vying for votes than ever before. This time around Hema Malini will contest the Lok Sabha elections as opposed to being nominated to the Rajya Sabha, while old pros Vinod Khanna (BJP) and Shatrughan Sinha continue to stand from their usual constituencies.

Unlike before this time around, in addition to the usual suspects, the inclusion of the Aam Admi Party (AAP) has seen a whole new kind of vote seekers. AAP has pitched Gul Panag, the socially conscious former Miss India who is known for being not just politically aware but also vocal, against the BJP’s candidate actress Kirron Kher from Chandigarh.

Gul Panag [L] and Kirron Kher [R]

The clash of these two divas is the best contrast of the elections, while Kher gets husband Anupam Kher and friends such as Anil Kapoor to canvass, Panag is happily zipping across town on her Enfield in order to connect with the voter.

Then there’s Meera Sanyal, former corporate honcho with a net worth of Rs. 55 Cr., who previously fought as an independent candidate but is an AAP nominee now trying to fit in an outfit that otherwise cringes at the mention of corporates. Of course, no one’s making a grater effort to fit in besides yesteryears’ actress Moon Moon Sen with her efforts to campaign in the sweltering Bengal heat. It’s rumored that Ms. Sen, the daughter of the legendary Suchitra Sen, was more worried about sunscreen than her party, the Trinamool National Congress’ (TNC) manifesto.

Meera Sanyal [L], Moon Moon Sen [C] and Nandan Nilekeni [R]

And as far as celebrity personal wealth is concerned then the hands down winner would be Congress’ Nandan ‘Infosys’ Nilekeni with RS. 7,700 Cr. Besides film stars and corporate honchos there are cricketers Md. Kaif (Cong) and Md. Azaruddin (Cong), footballers Baichung Bhutia (TNC), and other colorful individuals like Bhappi Lahiri (BJP) and the truly incomparable Rakhi Sawant, who formed her own party the Rashtriya Aam Party (RAP) who are also in the running.

Rakhi Sawant

Looking at the names and the (lacking) credentials in most case one would believe that irrespective of the results, some of our worst fears about celebrity candidates might just come true.

Well, in a Q&A session conducted by a journalist on his own accord many of them revealed an abject lack of basic general knowledge when it comes to politics … Paresh Rawal (BJP) believed that Bhutan was a part of India, Mahesh Manjrekar (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) doesn’t know the name of India’s first President, Moon Moon Sen has no idea as to who wrote India’s national song or when her party was formed, and Kamaal R. Khan or KRK, the Samajwadi Party candidate from North West Mumbai told the press he wouldn’t answer questions as he was fighting an election and not sitting for an examination.

Years ago when Rajesh Khanna dabbled in politics, the late acerbic writer-columnist Khushwant Singh called him a ‘some kind of buffoon’, something that perhaps, sadly, stands true for a majority of his brethren running for office even today.

Hamid Mir was shot because of his calls to respect the human rights of the Baloch, because he stood with Mama Qadeer in the VMBP’s Long March.

No, it was because he didn’t give enough space to the Taliban’s viewpoint.

No, silly, it’s because a distraction was needed from the non-stop coverage of Musharraf in Karachi. Now, under the cover of this distraction, the former president can safely fly the coop. That’s right; guess which party controls every falling leaf in Karachi and was allied to Musharraf? Do the math.

Don’t be ridiculous; he staged the attack on himself for ratings/sympathy/cover of some kind. I mean, just look at that single, blurred, frame I saw of the car. Where’s the blood? Surely that’s proof positive? I mean if Malala can do it why can’t Hamid Mir? I even wrote a blog about it after spending 15 minutes googling gunshot victims. Open your eyes, people. I’m an expert.

That’s a short summary of the social media theories revolving around the attack on Mr Mir.

Armed with an internet connection and the ability to understand simple mathematics (2+2=5), our budding forensic investigation experts have already decided who the triggermen in this episode are.

Then, of course, there are the ‘fastest finger first’ condemnation bots, because every second counts here. There are those who will time the politicians racing to get to the hospital first, because nothing spells real concern like a timely photo op.

Then there’s the ‘stay safe’ crowd. Well-meaning, and when you really have nothing more to say, I suppose that’s the best one can do. And really, it is all about what’s being said, to whom and for what reason. Because clearly, there are those who would be happier if the media as a whole just finally shut up.

‘But that’s not going to happen!’ say others, mostly journalists.

The media will not be silenced, their voice will not be muzzled. Not by one bullet or a hundred.

Now that’s reassuring. That, despite threats, attacks and murders, the media will somehow continue to speak out (as it does now and then) against injustice, criminal gangs, terrorist organisations, out of control state agencies and so on and so forth.

But that’s just wishful thinking. There’s no point harking to the Zia-era repression and pointing out the stalwarts who stood up to it.

The past is another country; one in which your life wasn’t worth a few thousand rupees at most, even after adjusting for inflation.

Also read | Journalists in Pakistan: Here be dragons

The media will be muzzled; will grow silent simply because there is no security and probably will never be any justice. Not just for journalists, but for anyone at all. This is the reality we are faced with.

Let's be honest with ourselves: We aren't Hamid Mir. We aren't Mustafa, Raza Rumi, the Hazara or any other victim du jour you choose. We are, all of us, on our own.

So stay safe, until you’re not.

As the first year of relocation from Houston to Karachi drew to an end, I wondered what I could write to mark that milestone.

As I had several times in the past, whenever I was faced with a writing conundrum, I asked the muse.

“Write about failure, and put it in a relevant context,” the muse responded without hesitation. “Who has failed frequently enough and could be the protagonist of this story?” I asked her.

No answer.

And then I realised the person whom I needed to write about was closer than I'd envisioned. Me.

I am a story of failure.

I have failed a lot. In fact, I have failed so often that I will fail again just trying to quantify my failures.

But I am not going to fail to try. Below, somewhat chronologically, I relate my choicest failure stories:

• One of my earliest, and repeated, situations includes my inability to get admission in an elite, legacy-based school in Karachi that my older siblings and cousins had attended.
  
• I failed the entrance test for another private school, although I might have done something to impress them during the interview since they ultimately admitted me.
  
• In high school in Karachi, I failed to get ‘that someone’ to go with me to senior prom.
• In the final year of medical school in Karachi, I failed to get a visa for clinical electives in Houston.
• Although I did not fail my USMLEs, my scores were embarrassingly low compared to my peers.
• After completing my residency in Houston, I failed my initial attempt at board certification.
• I was unable to acquire significant grant support for my biomedical research.
• I have repeatedly failed to recall my wedding anniversary, much to my wife’s chagrin, and my kids’ birthdays, much to their frustration.
  
• My articles, stories, and book drafts have repeatedly been rejected by several newspapers, authors (as reviewers) and publishers in Houston and Karachi.

All of the above frequent failures might make you rightfully conclude that I am an epitome case study in failure.

Yet, I am professionally employed at one of the best medical institutions in Karachi, while previously I was faculty at a very competitive medical school in Houston. I should also mention that my repeat attempt at securing a visa to the US was successful.

Irrespective of a low success rate in terms of grant support, I continue to pursue my biomedical research interests. In spite of being a resounding failure, more medical students and graduates come to me seeking career advice – even after being told that I have failed time and again.

Despite the growing stack of rejected manuscripts and writings, I continue to write and publish in biomedical journals, or otherwise.

So, where is the disconnect? I think the discrepancy arises because of the fast-paced, fast food, Twitter and Facebook heavy social media world of ours. We are constantly regaled by presumably instantaneous, overnight success stories with their inherent short-term gratifications. This might misdirect us into thinking of success as not being a journey rather simply a means to an end. It happens to such an extent that we are bound to conclude that to succeed is the only purpose to live life.

I think success is over-rated. Over glorification of success is particularly detrimental to our children, especially given today’s volatile and unpredictable world where little is black and white. I have nothing personal against success and those who succeed although the blinkered approach assumes that people reading those stories understand and recognise real success.

But what fails to get transmitted more often than not is that both success and the protagonists of success stories have been through a process. That process, for many the long haul, glosses over the failures. Yet, those failures are what the journey is really about.

What we are unable to gauge for ourselves and our kids is that we can learn a tremendous amount from our failures, perhaps much more than from our successes. The objective to try harder, better becomes more apparent with each successive failure.

Among my recent most significant and high risk ventures was moving back to Karachi after 15 years in Houston. This had a low likelihood of success per the naysayers in both cities. Hence, I was not surprised when the muse asked me to write about failure to mark the first anniversary of my relocation.

She could have asked me to write about success, and going by what does the rounds, that is, success stories per social media. However, going by my history there’s almost always a successful journey to the said presumptive failure.

Per that thought process, if I leave it up to you, my dear reader, you might logically conclude that my relocation was a failure. And that would be fine by me because success, after all, is failure redefined.

I sat stunned as I absorbed the news: He had been shot in the chest and was at a hospital in an unstable condition.

I could never have imagined it. Especially when he had done everything as I had asked him to do. A conciliatory man, he never went against my advice.

He had done everything I had already practised. And if I had survived, he should too!

I rushed to the hospital where he was. There, I saw a sea of angry, bemused and faraway faces outside the facility.

I identified a dominant majority of them. They all were like me, from the same industry I was in. They all were following the path I was already successfully strolling upon. And, here they were, all as confused as I was.

One of them ran towards me. “How is he...?” I inquired.

“The doctors are not optimistic...” he choked. “His chances of survival look slim...”

I watched him withering away as he spoke. Visibly shaken; his forehead was a maze of wrinkles and his body was soaked in perspiration.

A sudden anger chilled my bones. My face reddened, as my fists clenched and I virtually roared.

“How can he do this,” I spat out.

Why didn’t he let the lie go, as all of us had agreed to keep doing?

“No one knows...” I heard a voice from distance.

We lifted our heads and looked at the man who had spoken. His face too, was like mine. He leapt towards us – fuming. He looked in our eyes with a bizarre desolation.

“I saw him speaking loudly,” he whispered furtively. “I had warned him not to do this again, but he didn’t listen.”

The first fellow rolled edgily. “I too witnessed the same,” he spoke guardedly. “He had suddenly turned reckless. He would not heed to my warnings.”

I swung my eyes around and caught the humming of the dozens of distressed souls in the crowded hallway, suffused with the trademark hospital odour. Doctors and paramedics were scurrying around, unsuccessfully asking visitors to leave.

“It has gotten difficult to live with all this,” I muttered. “That bullet is not going to stop. Once it is fired, it is hard to impede it until it finishes off all its targets.”

They gazed at me fearfully. Their squinting, anxious eyes trying to catch sight of the bullet, which could come whizzing from anywhere, at anytime.

“How can a single bullet kill so many times ... how ...?” the second fellow hummed.

“That bullet has been created especially for us, for those who speak up and write and change,” I said quietly. Instantly, I shuddered at the realisation that I had just divulged a secret to them.

The knowledge that I had, on many occasions, done the same as a critically wounded colleague of mine had done just hours ago sent a chill down my spine.

The crowd around me leaned in, wanting to know more about the mysterious bullet, but I opted to hold my tongue now.

A deafening silence continued to overwhelm us, until a nurse scampered out from the Intensive Care Unit and loudly announced my name.

Everyone looked at me, as I walked towards her. “He wants to see you,” she stuttered. “He has very little time left.”

I dashed into the facility. He turned his head towards me, struggling with his breathing as he lay in wait.

I went to his bed and held his hand – I noticed it turning cold in mine.

As I felt a heavy lump forming in my throat, I realised I was extremely annoyed with him and wanted to yell at him for telling the truth. I had asked him to use the keyboard for fun on social media, but he had used it for reasoning. I wanted to admonish him for it.

“You are getting well,” was all I could utter. A faint smile danced over his face and vanished.

“I am going to die soon,” he tried to maintain a careless demeanour. “I just wanted to warn you that the bullet is now headed for you.”

I nodded my head to convey to him that I already knew that.

“Will you not reproach me for telling the truth?”

“No, I don’t,” I said. “Can I ask you one thing, though?”

He nodded.

“Why did you do this? Weren’t you happy with things how they were, with your life?”

“I was,” he began losing his breath. “But, it wasn’t me who did it.”

His words perplexed me. He motioned for me to move closer. I leaned my ear towards his trembling mouth.

“It was not me who told the truth...” He whispered, “It was someone else.” I saw his wobbly hands pointing towards his body.

He said, “It was someone else....inside....me.”

I stepped back as his head fell to his side and he breathed his last.

Doctors and paramedics urgently rushed into the room, examining the screaming machines around me.

In the moment when they declared him dead, I saw someone jump out of his body and infiltrate mine.

I heard a voice from inside, “I am someone.”

It paused for a moment, and then said, “Are you ready to face the bullet that is now hunting you?”

I felt an amazing calm and walked out of the room.

Sadequain's work on classical literature with Ghalib's verses

“He always considered death an unavoidable professional hazard.” Shakir put the newspaper back on his table and telephoned his home, for the 12th time since morning. “So, how did she die?” he asked. They explained to him, also for the 12th time, how his sister died.

“Gabriel Garcia Marquez influenced the entire planet,” he began to read the piece again, also for the 12th time. “Nobel prize-winning Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has died in Mexico aged 87, his family says. Garcia Marquez was considered one of the greatest writers of his time, best known for his masterpiece of magical realism, One Hundred Years of Solitude.”

“He always considered death an unavoidable professional hazard,” Shakir repeated the quote from Love in the Time of Cholera.

“It was easier to mourn when people died individually and were not killed in droves by suicide bombers,” he thought, recalling recent collective deaths: “24 perish in a bomb attack at a vegetable market, blast kills 50 inside a mosque, 12 die in random firing inside a busy market.”

His sister died quietly, at home. It was a slow death, from cancer which was discovered too late to be cured.

“She saw sea shells on a sea shore, repeat with me,” his sister said to him, laughing as he struggled with the tongue-twister.

“Try this one,” she said: “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.”

“You know, you have this habit of scratching your head when you want to stress a point, just like our sister,” his brother once told him. “And she learned it from our mother, I guess.”

“Yes, and you hum, like our father, when you think,” Shakir said to his brother.

Those who die continue to live within us, he thought. “Time was not passing...it was turning in a circle.” Was it? Perhaps, we are all moving in a circle, he thought. But if we are, why don’t we bump into each other after death?

“Perhaps, we will meet those who went before us when we die,” his brother said to him, also for the 12th time when he called him. “Perhaps,” he said and put the phone down.

But this thought did not stay with him for long as he recalled another of his favorite quotes, from T. S. Eliot: “Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future. And time future contained in time past. If all time is eternally present, all time is unredeemable.”

“Incorrigible, incurable, irrecoverable, irredeemable, irremediable, irretrievable, unrecoverable, unredeemable.” He chuckled as he opened the dictionary to find a meaning that was not there.

“She asked about you before she died,” his brother said to him. “Yes, and I was thousands of miles away,” he replied.

“Don’t feel bad. You could not have come. It was so sudden,” his brother said. But he was feeling bad, upset that he could not feel the intensity of this personal loss.

“Individual deaths do not look significant in the time of the Taliban,” he said to his brother.

“What did you say?” his brother asked.

“Never mind, nothing significant, not when scores are killed in a single blast,” he said.

A four year child was among more than 80 gunned down by a rival religious group. His mother now cleans and combs the boy’s teddy bear every morning when other children go to school.

“Hey, come here.” His sister always called him back when he was about to go out for the school bus and combed his hair. And it always irritated him.

“It's enough for me to be sure that you and I exist in this moment … And both of them remained floating in an empty universe where the only everyday and eternal reality was love.”

Yes, he was floating around in a mist, but wanted to escape from it and go home.

The mist softly touches his toes, moving up. Out of the cloud emerges a face. One moment it is his face. The next moment it is someone else’s. Was it his sister’s? Garcia Marquez’s? That of the 4-year old child? An unknown face from hundreds slain in the time of the Taliban?

He tries to touch the face, hold it, but it melts away. Many faces appear. He feels around, trying to hold them but they slip through his fingers and disappear in the fog, slithering around his body.

He is tense. He wants to scream. He wants to hold onto something. But all faces, all images disappear in the haze as he stretches his hands. Shadows dance on the wall. Broad, bold shadows, leaping around in a rhythmic chaos.

They whisper to each other and laugh; a full-throated laughter fills his room. His skin prickles with fear. He tries to escape to the comfort of past images.

He seeks refuge in narrow, warm streets, away from a cold Washington morning. Familiar smells of closed rooms, sweat and herbs wander in the streets, getting stronger as the heat increases.

He sees people pushing, shouting, laughing and jostling. The muezzin calls for the evening prayers. A soothing shadow slips down the minarets. The sun is plucked from the sky.

The night drops from the clouds. But the streets are not deserted. They are now filled with the faithful smell of summer evenings. People still move around, laughing and shouting.

He extends his hands, tries to coax them into his existence. But they slip off out of his hands. The mist licks his fingers and the shadows moving on the wall scare him. He reaches out but only touches the cold, slithering mist.

He wanders like a lost soul through the images that fill his mind. Sometimes the images look familiar to him. Sometimes they float through his mind like strangers. But as time passes, these strangers also become a part of him, he sees his face in them. Yet, the confusion continues.

Sometimes he sees himself in a valley full of both familiar and strange images. He sees people, buildings and trees slowly emerging out of the mist. He sees cars, buses and trains.

An airplane flies over his head. He sees shops and office blocks. He sees people working on their computers, lifting telephones, talking to those thousands of miles away in foreign languages.

Then the muezzin calls again. “Allah is great, Allah is great,” he reminds the faithful. It soothes him. He spreads the prayer mat and prays.

But then he hears a blast, which echoes around the world, shown live on TV. “Another suicide blast, scores feared dead.”

“You cannot mourn an individual death in the time of the Taliban,” he says to himself. “You cannot even pray for your dead.”

-Photo by Ker Than/National Geographic

On absorbing the final report on the massacre of wildlife in his region, I wonder if Jafar Baloch of the Balochistan Forest and Wildlife learned something important about the dynamics of Pak-Saudi relation:

When a Arab country offers you $1.5 billion dollars, it becomes tremendously difficult to regulate its royals’ hunting activities in your reserves.

Saudi Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was permitted to hunt a total of a 100 Houbara Bustards in 10 days, in Chagai, Balochistan. We fear our honorable guest may have somewhat overshot the limit by killing 2100 birds, an average of a 100 each day for 21 days.

The Houbara Bustard is an endangered bird, whose meat is valued by the Arab falconers as an aphrodisiac. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has estimated the total global population of Houbara Bustards to be 110,000, declining at an average rate of nearly 25 per cent.

Also read: Houbara bustard butchery

It may be a matter of pride for some to be personally responsible for slaughtering nearly 2 per cent of the world’s total population of a species of birds; and cause near-eradication of the bird’s indigenous variety in Pakistan’s nature reserves.

Others, like me, find it appalling.

I cannot, for the life of me, imagine why the Saudi Prince and his hunting friends had been allowed to hunt any of these rare birds at all. This is, interestingly, the same bird whose migratory friends have sparked diplomatic rows with India in the past. These birds are known to migrate annually from Central Asia to India.

Last year, our Eastern neighbour scratched its head over the diminished size of the incoming flock, and discovered that they were being poached in Sindh, on their way to Rajasthan. Whether this was negligence on Pakistan’s part, or some odd revenge plan for India’s attempts at restricting water flow into Pakistan, remains to be discussed in a humorous fashion.

Enough pressure was mounted on Pakistan to halt the illegal hunting of these majestic birds, and so we did. But we’re always willing to make certain exceptions for our Arab guests and benefactors. We began granting them special permits to ‘poach’ on our land.

Also read: Open season

All of us who were outraged by news of the French restaurant denying service to Pakistani patrons and allowing only foreigners, will indubitably take offense at the idea of only foreigners being allowed to hunt a bird that locals are forbidden to harm.

Saudis are not unaware of the rarity of Houbara Bustard. They have been conducting their own captive breeding program in the Mahazat as-Sayd reserve, recognising that the population of this species has been rapidly dwindling. The birds in our reserves are ostensibly fair game for the royal family.

The Houbara Bustard also happens to be the provincial bird of Balochistan. With the region's human population in deep turmoil, it was only fitting for the glorious provincial bird to meet the same fate.

The Prince’s actions are the equivalent of your house guest, repaying your warm reception by playing cricket in your living room; and grinning broadly as he poses for a picture next to a pile of broken furniture and fine china.

The least we can expect is a formal apology from the state of Pakistan for issuing those special permits. For allowing such unspeakable, and potentially irreplaceable, damage to our wildlife.

Universities are more apt at teaching the law of supply and demand than following it. Ignoring the long-term impacts of declining fertility, universities in Canada have been busy building capacity only to realise that they may have overbuilt and over-hired in the past decade. International students are needed in large numbers to protect some Canadian universities from the impending financial ruin.

The recent issue of University Affairs, a trade publication of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, ran a cover story about the enrolment challenges resulting from changing demographics in Canada.

The percentage of Canadians aged between 18 and 21, who make up more than 60 per cent of the undergraduate enrolment in Canada, is going to decline by 10 per cent by 2020, noted Peggy Berkowitz, the editor. Canadian universities, on the other hand, have expanded their capacity by hiring additional faculty and constructing new buildings. This disconnect in supply and demand should be a major source of concern for university administrators.

The enrolment crisis, a likely scenario if the doomsday forecasts by Canada’s leading demographer, Dr. David Foot, materialise, will require new ways to improve the declining demand for higher education. A less preferred option will be to lower admission standards to fill the gap with domestic students who would not have secured admissions with higher standards. A more preferred option is to attract talented international students to Canada to pursue undergraduate education. Aspiring students from Pakistan, India, and China could be the likely beneficiaries, provided their governments act fast to seize the opportunity.

All across Canada school boards are grappling with the falling enrolments in secondary education. Many school boards are closing schools because of lack of demand that is likely to cycle through the system and soon reach universities. Dr. Foot warns,

Overall, the 18-to-24 age group that grew almost 20 per cent between 1996 and 2013 should contract about 10 per cent over the next decade.

The falling enrolment will be even a bigger challenge for the Atlantic Provinces in Canada, because of their rapidly aging population.

Source: University Affairs, May 2014

The Cape Breton University in Sydney, Nova Scotia, is one such institution that is facing the enrolment crunch where the student enrolment has declined by 6 per cent. The reasons for this decline have been known for years in Atlantic Canada where scarce job opportunities forced many young workers to migrate to the booming Alberta. The youth from all across Canada are converging in Alberta to join the job fest brought about by the Oil Sands. A recent report by Statistics Canada revealed that in 2013 Alberta alone generated 87 per cent of the net new jobs in Canada.

Cape Breton University has turned to international students to balance its books. Whereas international students in Canada account for fewer than 10 per cent of the enrolment in tertiary education, at Cape Breton they account for 29 per cent of the student body. If the forecasts for even more drastic enrolment crunch continue, universities in Atlantic Canada may have to increase their international enrolment radically to unprecedented levels. An opportunity exists for international students who in the past may have been turned away by the same schools that now face the enrolment crunch.

The enrolment crunch is likely to spread to the rest of Canada because of the significantly lower size of the cohort that demands tertiary education. In Ontario, Canada’s most populace province, early signs of an enrolment crunch have started to appear. In January, the Council of Ontario Universities reported “a slight dip” in the number of students applying to universities. University administrators in Ontario hope that the decline in applications in 2013-14 is a one-off event. The demographics and the skewed employment markets in Canada, however, suggest otherwise.

Canada, unlike the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, is not one of the preferred destinations for the internationally mobile students. A report from UNESCO reported that in 2011, 3.8 million students were enrolled in tertiary education in a country different from their own. Almost one in five international students was enrolled in the United States followed by UK, Australia, France, and Germany. At the same time China, India, and South Korea provided the largest number of international students.

Students from China (26,298), the US (7,578), France (7,269), and India (5,868) constituted the largest cohorts of international students in Canada. International students from Pakistan number 1,827 in Canada. Even Iran (2,958) and Saudi Arabia (2,361) sent more students to Canada than Pakistan. The most frequent destinations of international students from Pakistan included UK (10,122), the US (4,949), Sweden (3,165), and Australia (3,104). Most international students from Pakistan are enrolled in graduate programs. The enrolment crunch though impacts the undergraduate student population in Canada.

Source: UNESCO, 2011

According to a report by Statistics Canada, the total number of international students from Pakistan attending a university in Canada’s Atlantic Provinces stood at 72 in 2009. Another 243 students from India were enrolled in the same universities. Given the enrolment crunch, hundreds, if not thousands, more from Pakistan and India can enroll in Canadian universities, whose quality, without exception, exceeds that of higher-ed institutions elsewhere.

Governments in countries like Pakistan and India can help applicants in securing admissions abroad. Universities in Canada and the United States admit students from high schools after they have completed grade 12, which is known as intermediate in India and Pakistan. Not much is known abroad about the quality of institutions and Boards that award grade 12 certificates in India and Pakistan. Governments can set up agencies to develop and report quality metrics for students who clear Grade 12. Such standardised reporting will help Canadian and other western universities evaluate credentials of international applicants.

Commercial banks in India and Pakistan also have the opportunity to tap into their future elite clientele by extending loans for higher education to those who would like to study abroad. These loans could be secured against land assets and other collateral put up by parents. There is an untapped niche market for cultural training of those who would like to move abroad. Language training, cultural assimilation, etiquettes, and other nuances of foreign cultures could be offered by commercial firms to those who are ready to spend considerable amounts to move abroad and would not hesitate in investing in training that will improve their odds for success.

Whereas Canada may have a tough time filling seats in the universities, South Asian universities will continue to struggle to meet the demand for higher education. It is not hard to see how excess demand for higher education in South Asia could help serve the excess supply in Canada.

Directed by Abhishek Varman, the movie is overlong, doesn’t really do anything aesthetically extraordinary and skims over the one thing its male lead – Arjun Kapoor – says in the beginning: “the story should be the hero, no matter if the story has a hero or not”.

Pretty quaint and idealistic, and perhaps spoken a little too soon.

Does it work?

Based on Chetan Bhagat’s autobiographical novel, 2 States is about Krish (Kapoor), a young Punjabi college lad who falls for a zesty Tamilian girl Ananya (Alia Bhatt).

A scene from movie, "2 States". – Courtesy Photo

Romance between the two leads to some songs about young love (put to music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy), and a subsequent, and mandatory, meet the (very close-minded) parents’ scenario.

Krish has daddy issues (played by Ronit Roy) and a kind-hearted mom with a nasty streak (Amrita Singh). Ananya’s parents are more docile; her mom (Revathy) is fond of singing, her dad (Shivkumar Subramaniam) is fed up with office work.

Suffice to say, no one approves of Punjab marrying Tamil Nadu.

Varman (also credited with the screenplay) comes with the skill set to make the most of the narrative – there are brief jabs at cultural differences, though not as much as one would have hoped – but at the end of the day, his adaptation lacks the wit of Bhagat’s novel.

A scene from movie, "2 States". – Courtesy Photo

Krish makes one realise that we are living at the beginning of a new age of future Bollywood heroes. Still monotone in voice – a trait he shares with almost every new actor from Ranbir Kapoor’s time – he comes prepackaged with wounded puppy dog-ish looks and a very reserved take on life; there is little doubt of him bottling up dreams of being a writer – especially when he looks like one (the backpack he carries around, his specs and the old type-writer he uses to jot down his novel are dead giveaways).

Ananya, on the other hand, has a smart head on her shoulders and great determination, but that’s about it. Then again, it doesn’t seem as if there was any room for anything else in the character.

A scene from movie, "2 States". – Courtesy Photo

The supporting cast, though, are all aces. Roy, who has a brief but commanding presence, has fragility within the gruff he puts up. Singh is an astonishing caricature of that nasty aunt you may know. Ravathy and Subramaniam don’t need words of praise.

The other support, by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, is infectious; the sound track – with standouts Locha-e-Ulfut, Uffo and Mast Magan – has that free-flowing, liberating feel of fresh love, with one statutory track that reminds us how hard ‘real life’ love is – even if it’s just on the big-screen.

The final word

The movie has a lot going for it – the acting, direction and the soundtrack for starters – and also few things going against it (the long running time, being one).

Ace cinematographer Binod Pradhan – Devdas, 1942 a Love Story, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag– lights his scenes well, but it feels like the technical aspects are missing.

Overall, 2 States is simple, yet a good watch.

Released by UTV Motion Pictures, ‘2 States’ is rated U/A, featuring young love with all the bells and whistles that can be shown on screen (lip-locking – and lot of it – isn’t a crime at the censor board these days).

Directed by Abhishek Varman; Produced by Karan Johar, Sajid Nadiadwala; Written by Chetan Bhagat, Mr. Varman, ; Based on 2 States by Chetan Bhagat; Cinematography by Binod Pradhan; Editing by Namrata Rao; Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

Starring: Arjun Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Amrita Singh, Revathy and Shivkumar Subramaniam.

The long-awaited 3G and 4G Spectrum Auction commenced and closed yesterday, after eight rounds of bidding as a result of which, the Government of Pakistan has managed to successfully raise $1.1 billion.

Out of the four telecom providers competing in this auction, Mobilink, Telenor and Ufone managed to secure 3G licences, where as Zong owned by China Mobile, is the only one to have secured both a 3G and a 4G license.

Third Generation mobile broadband internet providers must offer peek data transfer rates of at least 200kbps apart from meeting technical standards for speed and reliability. This does not mean it’s restricted to that speed; some 3G providers exceed more than 10 times that.

Also read: Pakistan joins the 3G club

To be able to call them selves Fourth Generation the network provider must offer peak data rates of at least 100Mbps for high mobility communication (users in trains or cars), and at least 1Gbps for low mobile communication (pedestrians and stationary users).

It is a strange thing to note that according to a PEW research report published in February, only 53 per cent of Pakistanis own a cellphone, out of those only 3 per cent are smartphone users.

Given that, there is said to be 180 million of us, all this fuss is essentially over 6 million subscribers.

Since this is still a business venture and telecoms have spent a fortune on putting systems in place to facilitate this technology, in addition to the licenses themselves, what we all do not realise is that billions are intended to be made through just 6 million people. Even if you quadruple those - billions through 24 million, it still does not sound that great.

Tariff plans are sure to be the next cause for concern for the data hungry lot, as with speed improvements there will be a new kind of internet usage, which includes game downloads while using mobile data, multiplayer games being played over mobile internet and not restricting them to Wi-Fi only access points.

Even though these tasks may not be painfully slow, there is no guarantee that they will not be painfully expensive. Personally, the excitement is coupled with anxiety about the scale, speed and reliability of the infrastructure put into place.

Additionally with the availability of third and fourth generation mobile broadband internet, people would want to use more out of their cellphones which may not be entirely possible since there is a lack of services provided in Pakistan.

These application assisted services generally come hand in hand with such speeds like map functionality and speech-based assistance which uses grid systems to guide you to closest Chinese restaurant or list book shops in the area.

Former Pakistan cricket captain and ace batsman, Zaheer Abbas, recently lamented that right from the moment Pakistan achieved international cricket status (in 1952), its batting has been its weakest link.

Even a cursory look at the record of Pakistan teams across the last many decades would suggest that Abbas is correct in his claim and that a majority of victories enjoyed by the Pakistan cricket teams (in Tests, ODIs and T20s) have largely been initiated by impressive bowling feats.

May be that is why Pakistan has been in the forefront of not only producing a string of some exceptional fast, swing and spin bowlers, but more importantly, has introduced and pioneered innovations (even inventions) of bowling styles and deliveries that were once unheard of (and never before seen) in international cricket.

Leading examples in this respect include ‘reverse swing’ and the ‘doosra.’

Nobody’s sure exactly who coined the term reverse swing, but it first appeared in the British media during Pakistan’s tour of England in 1992.

Reverse swing is when a fast bowler is able to swing the old ball. Technically the ball should only swing when it’s new, but when Pakistani fast bowlers like Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Aaqib Javed began running through the English batting line-up (during the 1992 series) with the old ball, the British media first accused them of ‘tampering with the old, worn out ball (to achieve swing)’, before saner heads like famous Australian commentator and cricket expert, Ritchie Benaud, revealed how the Pakistan bowlers were swinging the old ball.

Just before the fifth Test in the 1992 series, Benaud interviewed Pakistani captain, Javed Miandad (for BBC TV). Miandad explained that reverse swing can be achieved by keeping one side of the ball as new as possible (through vigorous polishing using cricket clothing, sweat and spit), while letting the other side degrade.

Miandad also suggested that Pakistani bowlers had been using this technique for over a decade and it is only when bowlers like Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram became such lethal exponents of this technique that the cricket world woke up to what the Pakistani bowlers were up to.

Across the 1990s and good part of the 2000s, Pakistan remained the leading exponent of reverse swing. But after 2003, fast and swing bowlers of other Test playing nations had begun to master the technique as well and the art of reverse swing bowling began to be seen as a science!

Miandad was right to suggest that reverse swing was not something that Pakistani fast men like Waqar and Wasim had invented in 1992. It is another former Pakistani swing bowler, Sarfraz Nawaz, who has been established as being the pioneer of reverse swing bowling.

Sarfraz made his Test debut in 1969 and by the mid-1970s had consolidated his position in the team as its premier break-through bowler. Though a mercurial character (and a ‘party animal’ off the field), Sarfraz was considered to be Pakistan’s best new-ball bowler who got prodigious swing from the shining new ball.

For example during the 1975 World Cup in England, he proved his swing-bowling prowess when he cleaned up the top order of a strong West Indian team …

Sarfraz Nawaz | Edgbaston, 1975

After his fast bowling partners, Asif Masood and Salim Altaf, began to lose form, Nawaz quickly developed an effective fast bowling partnership with a young Imran Khan.

Nawaz was at his peak in 1977, but as Khan was getting quicker, Nawaz began to slow down his pace and concentrate on line and length. It was at this point that he began applying a technique of swinging the old ball that he had first learned while playing for the Punjab University in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

At first the technique did not pay much dividend in international cricket, but by 1979 he finally managed to master it when he destroyed the Australians (in Melbourne), grabbing 9 for 86 in Australia’s second innings. Almost all of his wickets came with the old ball.

Pakistan (captained by Mushtaq Mohammed) had set Australia 381 to win. Pakistan was expected to win the game, but the Australian batsmen took the score to 304 (for 3) after tea on the fifth day. Australia now needed just 71 runs and still had eight wickets in hand.

But as Pakistan now faced certain defeat, Sarfraz began to swing the old ball. Within a matter of a few overs he reduced Australia from being 304 for 3 to 310 all out!

He took 7 wickets in this period of play for just 1 run. Bowling from a short run-up, Nawaz bamboozled the Australian batsmen (and commentators) by prodigiously swinging the old ball both ways. He had invented reverse swing.

Sarfraz Nawaz | Melbourne, 1979

Sarfraz Nawaz | Melbourne, 1979

Though Sarfraz knew what he had invented, surprisingly not much debate took place in Australia about how he had managed to swing the old ball so much. Sarfraz soon passed on his invention to his younger bowling partner, Imran Khan.

In 1979, Khan had risen to become the third fastest bowler in the world (behind Australia’s Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding of the West Indies). By 1981, Khan was finally getting the grip of bowling reverse swing and since he was much quicker in pace than Sarfraz, he was also expecting to do much more damage to unsuspecting batting line-ups.

Khan first showed glimpses of this during Pakistan’s 1981 tour of Australia where Khan was occasionally able to move the old ball.

During the first Test in Perth, he set-up Australian captain and prolific batsman, Greg Chappell, when he first bowled conventional deliveries with the old ball, before slipping in a fast in-swinging yorker that Chappell was expecting to be just a low full toss …

Imran Khan | Perth, 1981

Though Sarfraz had been able to move the old ball both ways, Khan’s speed helped him devise a quick in-dipping yorker (that moved in late in the air) and an equally fast in-cutter that it seemed would harmlessly pass the batman and end up in the wicketkeeper’s glove, but would surprise the batsman by coming in sharply after hitting the pitch.

Khan picked up 40 wickets during Pakistan’s 1982-83 series against India. He was the most lethal during the second Test in Karachi where he picked up 11 wickets in the match. A bulk of these wickets came with the old ball, as he kept baffling the Indian batsmen by sharply bringing the old ball in.

His dismissal of great Indian batsman, Gundappa Viswanath, in the second innings is a case in point.

Bowling at over 90 mph, Khan bowled a fast ball that Viswanath thought would hit the pitch and leave him. He stylishly raised his bat to let the ball whizz past him. Instead, it hit the deck and rocketed back to clean bowl the batsman. He was stunned.

Imran Khan | Karachi, 1982

Khan retained his pace even after coming back from a long injury in 1985. By then, he had mastered bringing in the old ball in numerous ways. For example, during Pakistan’s 1987 series against England (in England), he exhibited he could even sharply bring in a bouncer.

The ball would lift off the wicket like a conventional bouncer but would come in with great pace not allowing the batsman to sway away because even if he did, the bouncer would chase him, getting his bat or glove …

Imran Khan | Leeds, 1987

Just like Sarfraz, Khan openly shared the technique of reverse swing with fellow Pakistani bowlers. It all depended on the capability of the bowler and whether he was skilful enough to use it effectively.

But interestingly, before he passed on the skill to men like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Aaqib Javed, he (rather non-seriously), passed on some of his conventional new-ball bowling techniques to batting all-rounder, Mudassar Nazar.

Nazar was known more for his (opening) batting skills, but would occasionally bowl gentle medium pacers as well.

During Pakistan’s 1982 tour of England, he twice devastated the English batting line-up and ushered in the era of the batting all-rounder, who was more than handy with the ball as well.

During the second Test at Lords (in the 1982 series), he was brought in to bowl by Imran so he (Imran) could switch ends. But this followed …

Mudassar Nazar | Lords, 1982

Also, before Khan got the liberty of packing the Pakistan fast bowling attack with three highly talented pupils (Waqar, Wasim and Aaqib), he was sharing his reverse swing technique with Tahir Naqqash who had become a regular paceman in the Pakistan side since 1981.

Naqqash did get the grip of reverse swing for a bit, but he couldn’t maintain his form and his place was finally taken by Wasim Akram in 1985 …

Tahir Naqqash | Lord's, 1982

When Sarfraz and Imran were sharpening an art of bowling that a decade later would come down to be known as reverse swing, Pakistan cricket also re-introduced leg-break-googly bowling that had fallen out of favour in international cricket.

From the early 1970s, Australia, England and the West Indies had increasingly strengthened their fast bowling line-ups. By 1979, when Indian leg-break bowler, the unorthodox Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, lost form and place in the Indian side, leg-break bowling all but vanished from international cricket.

So when Imran Khan decided to add Abdul Qadir in the squad that was to play three Tests against England in 1982, he faced stiff resistance from the cricket board and the selectors.

Qadir had made his Test debut in 1977 but failed to become a regular part of the team.

He was lingering in oblivion when Khan picked him up for the England tour. Khan’s logic was that since not many batsmen were used to playing leg-break bowling anymore, Qadir could be used as a surprise factor.

He was right. Qadir not only impressed the English experts and put the England batsmen in all sorts of tangles, he even bamboozled the umpires as well who could not determine which way his ball would turn.

That is why a number of decisions went against him and he wasn’t able to pick up as many wickets as he should have …

Abdul Qadir | Lord's, 1982

Qadir became one of the main strike bowlers in the team and picked up a bundle of wickets between 1982 and 1988.

From 1989 onwards, he lost form and his place in the side but he had already managed to successfully revive the art of leg-break bowling in international cricket.

He also influenced a number of quality leg-break bowlers who followed him into the game and these included Shane Warne (Australia), Mushtaq Ahmed (Pakistan) and Anil Kumble (India).

Qadir once claimed that he could bowl six different deliveries in a single over, but his main weapons were the flipper and the googly (that turned appreciably and at times would come in off the wicket like a fast off-cutter) …

Abdul Qadir | Adelaide, 1984

Just as Sarfraz had tutored Imran in reversing swing bowling, Khan’s first successful pupil in this respect was left-arm fast bowler, Wasim Akram.

Though, Akram made his Test debut in 1985 under Javed Miadad, he was soon assumed by Imran under whom he developed into a lethal fast bowler.

By 1987, Akram had also mastered the art of reverse swing and for the next 15 years became one of its leading exponents.

Just like Imran, Akram’s main strike deliveries (with the old ball) were the in-swinging yorker and the ball that came in sharply off the wicket …

Wasim Akram | Brisbane, 1988

Wasim Akram | Melbourne, 1992

The arrival of Akram triggered a fast bowling revolution of sorts in Pakistan. A few years later he was followed by Saleem Jaffar, Aaqib Javed and Waqar Younis.

Out of these, Younis became Imran’s next best pupil of reverse swing bowling. He bowled quicker than Imran and was even faster than Akram, regularly clocking over 95 mph.

He, too, perfected the in-swinging yorker, hurled at tremendous speeds and which would actually pick up even more pace the moment it cut the air and dipped in.

No matter how old the ball was, Imran, Akram and Younis would use the fast in-dipping yorker that would beat the batsmen in the air irrespective of how the pitch was playing.

In the process, Waqar developed a swinging yorker that would zip in late with a lot of pace from the off stump line and end up hitting the leg stump! For a while, this delivery of his became known as ‘banana swing.’

Waqar Younis | Melbourne, 1995

Waqar Younis | Rawalpindi, 1997

Though Imran retired in 1992, Wasim and Waqar carried on delivering one magic spell of reverse swing bowling after another. As Aaqib and Saleem Jaffar fell away, the two Ws were soon joined by the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammed Akram and Mohammad Zahid.

All three had as much pace and venom as did the two Ws, but it was Akhtar and Zahid who would further expand the art and science of quick reverse swing bowling of which the Pakistanis had become masters.

With the new ball, Zahid (who made his Test debut in 1996) depended on bounce and speed, but he quickly learned the art of getting swing with the old ball and consequently was able to bowl the fast reverse swinging yorker …

Mohammad Zahid | Toronto, 1997

Unfortunately, Zahid was extremely injury-prone and could not fulfil his early promise. He could only represent Pakistan in five Tests and in a dozen or so ODIs before breaking down. When he returned to international cricket four years later, he had lost much of his pace and could not reverse the ball anymore. He faded away.

But Akhtar, though also injury-prone, managed to enjoy a longer and more glamorous cricket career. Faster than even Waqar Younis, Akhtar learned reverse swing bowling under Akram and then Waqar.

He made his Test debut in 1998 but made his first major splash in the third Test during Pakistan’s 1999 tour of India.

Managing to nudge out an out-of-form Waqar from the playing XI, Akhtar clean bowled India’s two leading batsmen, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, with consecutive deliveries.

Both the deliveries clocked over 95 mph, were bowled with an old ball and viciously reversed in to clean up the two stunned batsmen …

Shoaib Akhtar | Kolkata, 1999

Shoaib Akhtar | Kolkata, 1999

Akhtar, in spite of his many eccentricities and wild life-style, found himself as the team’s senior fast bowler when Wasim and Waqar retired from cricket in 2003.

By then, he had also clocked the fastest delivery ever recorded in international cricket (100.2 mph).

But with the fading away of the equally fast Mohammed Zahid and Mohammad Sami, Akhtar was missing an effective fast bowling partner until the arrival of Mohammad Asif in 2005.

Asif was not even half as fast as Akhtar. He was a bigger fan of quality swing bowlers such as Australia’s Glen McGrath and former Pakistani seamer, Sarfraz Nawaz.

Asif’s debut wasn’t all that impressive and for a while another swing bowler, Shabbir Ahmad was preferred over him. Asif first concentrated on getting swing and seam from the new ball.

After he had successfully developed this, he began to concentrate on getting a grip of the art of reverse swing bowling. Since he did not have the kind of speed bowlers such as Imran, Wasim, Waqar and Wasim had, Asif was briefly coached by Sarfraz Nawaz who taught him to get reverse swing and seam off the wicket.

Asif demonstrated how well he was capable of getting conventional new-ball ball swing and then reverse swing (with the old ball), when he cleaned up India’s top four batsmen (in the second innings) during the third Test match in Karachi (2006 Pak-India series) …

Mohammad Asif | Karachi, 2006

After inventing the reverse swing and reintroducing leg-break bowling in international cricket, Pakistan cricket went on to formulate yet another unorthodox delivery: The doosra.

Just as reverse swing, this ball’s name also came years after it was first invented. But unlike the reverse swing, this name was coined by its main inventor: Saqlain Mushtaq.

Saqlain was inducted into the team by Wasim Akram in 1995.

By 1996, he was bowling a delivery that was technically supposed to come in as an off-break (to a right handed batsman), but instead would straighten up and then go the other way.

It would confuse the batsmen because it was always bowled without much change being applied to the bowling action. Between 1996 and 2002, only Saqlain was bowling it and it was simply called his ‘mystery ball.’

Just before the start of the 2003 World Cup, Saqlain finally decided to give it a name: The doosra (or the other one) …

Saqlain Mushtaq | Trent Bridge, 2001

Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan became a master of the doosra after the fading away of Saqlain and so did India’s Harbahjan Singh. But perhaps the ball’s most sublime, ‘scientific’ and tricky exponent has been Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal.

Ajmal was already in his early 30s when he was inducted into the Pakistan side in 2008. But it wasn’t until his best friend, Misbah-ul-Haq, became Pakistan’s captain (in 2011), that Ajmal became a regular fixture in the Pakistan team across all formats of the game.

By 2012, Ajmal was bowling the doosra so well and so confidently that he even went on to claim that he had invented a ‘teesra’ (the third one)!

There was no teesra. It was just Ajmal trying to bowl his doosra with a different action, pace and angle.

Today, he remains to be perhaps the finest exponents of the doosra, turning it from an art into a fascinating science …

Saeed Ajmal | Kennington Oval, 2010

Narendra Modi asks for restraint and disapproves of the remarks made by his party man, Giriraj Singh in Bihar few days ago. The Prime Ministerial candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right wing Hindu organisation, in a tweet said that,

Petty statements by those claiming to be BJP’s well wishers are deviating the campaign from the issues of development and good governance.

The statement on social media came in response to a statement that Singh made last week in which he asked the opponents of Modi to migrate to Pakistan.

Modi’s response sounds like the pot calling the kettle black.

Not long ago, the BJP leader equated defence minister AK Antony and Arvind Kejriwal of the Common Man’s Party as agents of Pakistan. At the time no one asked Modi for an apology and there were no disapprovals of such by any other party leaders.

Also read: Watching Modi, the maestro, at work

Why then, in the Indian elections, should Pakistan be an issue when the relationship with our immediate neighbour is not as rocky as it once was?

Those who are familiar with the politics of the Hindu rights understand what Pakistan means for them. It’s one way of terming the 180 million Muslims of India as the enemy of the state, as unreliable citizens of the country.

When Giriraj Singh talks of sending all those who oppose Modi to Pakistan, he obviously does not mean the Hindus. He wants to say that if the Muslims don’t vote for the BJP, which they don't normally, they are the enemy.

It is this fear of Hindu majoritarianism that was at the root of the two nation theory in the first part of the 20th century that led to Partition in the subcontinent. Now, the rise of Modi symbolises the same fear not just among the minorities but also among the liberal and secular Hindus.

Such fear will of course not indicate the second redrawing of the Indian map, but it will accentuate the fault lines which democratic India has been trying to bridge since 1947.

By referring to Muslims as ‘the others’, other radical Hindu right wing organisations want the wedge to continue and stop the emotional integration of Muslims in the mainstream.

This has been their project since 1925 when Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s parent organisation was founded. The idea was to create a majoritarian state. They have not succeeded thus far but their nuisance value cannot be underestimated.

When Modi was anointed as the BJP prime ministerial candidate he vowed to fight the elections on the issue of development. A few rounds into the poll, the rhetoric has changed.

The mask has started slipping.

Also read: The Narendra Modi model: A carefully crafted myth

The first indication of the Hindutva leader’s duplicity emerged when he chose Amit Shah as his points man in Uttar Pradesh. Shah is a rabid Hindu right wing worker, who as a Deputy Home Minister of Gujarat was allegedly involved in fake encounters and extra judicial killings. He was debarred from entering Gujarat by the Supreme Court for few years. He is now Modi’s trusted aide.

Within six months of being appointed as the man in charge of Uttar Pradesh, he brought the Hindu right wing into the reckoning, in the largest state of India which sends 80 out of the 545 members to parliament.

For the Muzaffarnagar riots that claimed the lives of 60 Muslims and displaced hundreds of families, most of the investigations have pointed to the local BJP leaders and the state government. Such human tragedies failed to move Modi; he has not commented on it so far.

A documentary released recently blames Shah for inciting violence in western UP, a part of the country that did not witness any violence during partition even! The area has been the crucible of communal harmony.

However, the violence has polarised the voters in UP and today opinion polls predict close to 50 seats to the BJP, which was at the fourth position in the last elections. To reach close to a simple majority in parliament, a good show in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (120 seats collectively) is a must. Communal polarisation is a speedy way of garnering the maximum seats within a short span of time in these states where Muslim votes play crucial role.

The BJP rose to political prominence by polarising voters. In the 1990s, when the party came into political prominence, it used the campaign to demolish the Babri mosque to divide voters.

The party is resorting to the same tactics now.

With the elections in northern India well in its crucial phase, the party believes that it has a better chance of expanding its shrunken bases in these areas by rousing raw passion. Therefore, Pakistan becomes a punching bag.

Modi has previously employed similar Pakistani barbs in the first two elections after the Gujarat riots in 2002. He used to address Pakistani president as Mian Musharraf.

Modi’s rise has emboldened a divisive ideology and individuals. In a recent remark in Gujarat, Pravin Togadia, one time friend and companion of Modi, advocated the eviction of Muslim owners from a housing society.

Also read: Modi’s rise a defeat for freedom in India

Shiv Sena leader, Ramdas Kadam in a rally in Maharashtra attended by Modi announced that, “Pakistan would be destroyed if the BJP comes to power”.

Modi is an old master of this kind of rhetoric. It is no wonder then that he inspires people like Togadia and Kadam, who have been in a political oblivion for the last decade, to utter such inflammatory statements.

Modi’s rise has unleashed an intolerant frenzy in the country; it has become difficult to convey counter narratives. Be it the social media or mainstream media, any voice against this mania is hurled at with invectives. You are instantly termed anti-national and an agent of Pakistan.

The problem with this anti-Pakistan and anti-minority narrative is that it vitiates the atmosphere between the neighbours. The huge peace constituency across the border which wants greater people-to-people interactions and enhanced economic engagement gets sidelined by hardliners who flourish by promoting animosity between the two countries.

Today, when Pakistan is engaged in a serious effort to root out extremism and religious radicalism from its soil, a charged atmosphere on Indian soil can put paid to such an effort.

A review of the nuclear doctrine emboldens anti-India forces in the neighbourhood and injects fear which is not good for peace in the subcontinent.

India cannot move ahead when its neighbours are in trouble. New Delhi can grow in stature at the international level only when Islamabad also enjoys stability and economic prosperity.

Fear from India or a potential threat from across the border does not allow political leadership in the Islamic state to focus on long term economic planning, it leads to militarisation and we all know the consequences of such an approach.

Is the emerging leadership in India capable of inducing new thinking in the subcontinent?

Modi’s persona does not inspire such confidence.

Much digging is to be done to discover the answers to questions such as how old is Clifton? Since when has it been populated? Why is it called Clifton?

However, there is something interesting I can tell you: Charles Napier, Hormas Jee, Roopchand and Bin Qasim used to live right here, in Clifton quite comfortably in a compound.

Sadly, Charles Napier has left the place. However, the other three individuals remain – the road signs are a proof of their occupancy.

As their names suggest, all four of these individuals followed different faiths. Napier is among those who are referred to as the people of the books; a Christian in other words. Hormas Jee is a Zoroastrian. The third figure in history is a Hindu; and the fourth is a Muslim.

Two of these four people share a trait, for lack of a better word. Bin Qasim and Napier, both invaded and conquered Sindh.

The society that we are a part of today does not frown upon the dejection of other religions, rejection of their teachings and justifying the inhumane act of using violence against or murdering their followers by considering it all an act of worthiness. Not only that, but even at the sectarian borders within religions, each one of them considers itself a champion of the particular belief, and ensures that all followers of other contemporary sects in the competition are decreed nothing less than heathen.

Yet, in the humid air of Clifton, loaded with the saltiness of Karachi’s seashores reside the four figures that, historically speaking, would never have been able to coexist peacefully here. But, to our surprise, they do. Let us begin with the formal introduction of these four individuals in the context of Clifton, Karachi.

Hormas Jee’s full name was Sir Jahangir Jee Hormas Jee Kothari. Roopchand is Roopchand, no added niceties to his name, except that he was the first Additional Judicial Commissioner of Sindh in 1930. Voila, the next is our dear own Muhammad Bin Qasim, whom I am certain you all know. For the sake of the formality, one must mention that it was Bin Qasim who bestowed the heathen region of Sindh with the honour of becoming the ‘gateway to Islam’.

Roopchand sahib was the man behind the construction of a park by the seaside at Clifton, while Jahangir Jee Hormas Jee Kothari was the man who made possible the construction of a pathway, usually referred to as a parade, so that people could enjoy the seashore while taking a walk. This parade was called the Lloyd Pier.

How Old is Clifton?

Sir Charles Napier’s Companion (CIE) H. T. Lambrick mentions his superior and the area of Clifton in his book Charles Napier and Sindh (pp. 339-340, Oxford University Press, 1952):

During the hot weather Sir Charles had taken his large family to Clifton, the hill overlooking the Arabian Sea on which a few houses had been built as a health resort. But Lady Napier fell ill; her husband devotedly nursed her for 17 days and nights. His daughter and granddaughter, too, fell severely ill.

Sir Napier was in a worried state due to these domestic affairs and the severity of the business of governance. He declined any further involvement in work until winter and submitted his resignation, although he had been asked to remain the incumbent of his office till the month of September. Had he chosen to describe the matter in a humorous manner, he could have written that I am a man who is troubled because of women and children quite similarly to how a duck is stuck among ducklings. Shall the coming four months be alright? Shall I ever rid myself of the great Indian empire, its needs and its mal-administration?

Let us speak of Hormas Jee now, whose Lloyd Pier is a subject we ought to know something about, since that, too, is an interesting story in itself. Behind every successful man, there is a woman, they say. I say in the background of every great construction in history, there is a woman somewhere smiling over her own success.

Kimi Mer Pura, a Korean woman who spent a long time in Pakistan in the 1960s, writes in her book Aaj Kaa Pakistan, which is a recollection of her time in the land of the pure of those days – a travelogue of sort, on page 59:

The foundation for the Lloyd Pier was laid by a woman. It was the honourable Lady Lloyd. Every afternoon when cold breezes made their way to Karachi, sharing the chill with the seaside sand, Lady Lloyd would be there to receive the sweet messages it carried from oceans far, far away. Sadly, the beautiful woman would have to not be able to stay longer as she had to head back home before dark. It was an uneven and bumpy ride to the seashore, which was not even close enough to the waves.

One day, during another of her brief visits to the seashore, Lady Lloyd met an honourable and wealthy Parsiman whose name was Sir Jahangir Hormas Jee Kothari. They became good friends soon. Kothari sahib used to own a bungalow atop a hill by the seaside. Lady Lloyd and Sir Jahangir would often enjoy tea in the balcony of the beautiful house. The winds here would often be joyfully rapid. One day, during the regular meetings over tea, Lady Lloyd was observing the people enjoying the seashore. She must have thought how the rocky pathway was a nuisance for the feet of these walkers. It was after this that she shared with Sir Jahangir the idea of a pier or a proper track here. She was of the view that such a walking track would be a blessing for the troubled people who visit the place for a walk by the breezy seaside, especially those who cannot afford homes near the area.

The honourable Parsi gentleman agreed with the lady. He was worried how it could all be accomplished. She explained to him that only a pier was needed to be built here that would lead to the waters, adding that any such endeavour will inscribe the gentleman’s name on the blossoming breast of British India’s history. Sir Jahangir agreed to the idea of constructing a pier. However, he took the liberty of naming it after his friend, Lady Lloyd instead of himself. The pier was opened for public on March 23, 1921. Visitors can read the plaque that says Lady Lloyd Pier.

It cost Kothari sahib 3000 Indian rupees to have this pier and the adjoining pavilion constructed; a beautiful gift to the city of Karachi. One can easily claim it is an example of Sir Jahangir’s generosity. Even today people can enjoy a walk up to the waves on the Jodhpuri marble pier.

Another plaque in the area has Roopchand Bilaram’s name inscribed on it. It has already been mentioned that he was the Additional Judicial Commissioner of Sindh in 1930. The plaque, however, does not show any dates.

His grandson Sundar Shivdasani has published an article on Wikipedia, in which he says:

Prior to partition, the park was named after the person who was instrumental in the construction of the park. His name was Roopchand Bilaram. I happen to be the grandson of this person and have in my possession a painting of the park when it was originally built by my grandfather in the early 1900s.

I tried relentlessly to get in touch with Sundar sahib somehow. I wanted to get a picture of the painting at least. Unfortunately, that could not happen.

The plaque for the Kothari Parade can be seen at the beginning of the park. However, the plank that says Roopchand Park is hard to find. It plays hide and seek with visitors while resting quite casually by the tail of the parade.

My friend Hassan Mansoor once wrote in a news story:

On July 22, 2005, the foundation stone for a huge park was laid in Karachi. According to the figures, this was to be the largest park in Pakistan with land stretching as much as 130 acres. The cost of the project was a hefty 500 million rupees. People in Karachi know it as the Bin Qasim Park. However, not many know who Sir Jahangir Hormas Jee and Roopchand Bilaram were.

It was centuries after Imaduddin Muhammad Bin Qasim had conquered Sindh that Sir Jehangir Hormas Jee and Roopchand Bilaram had the park and the parade constructed.

However, the name that survives is that of Muhammad Bin Qasim’s.

-Photos by Akhtar Balouch
-Translated by Aadarsh Ayaz Laghari