Urdu and Japan: a relationship of red blooms and green fragrance

Among foreign nationals who have written about, and in Urdu, the Japanese stand head and shoulders above the rest. For more than 100 years, people in Japan have been learning and teaching Urdu as a foreign language.

In the promotion of Urdu, the role of university teachers has been instrumental. Prof Gamou Reiichi, who is known as Japan’s Baba-i-Urdu, was the one to plant Urdu’s exotic sapling in Japanese soil. The sapling was tended lovingly by Prof Suzuki Takashi, a pupil of Prof Reiichi’s, and other scholars such as Prof Hiroji Kataoka, Prof Asada Yutaka, and Prof Hiroshi Hagita made sure that this alien plant kept blooming and bearing fruit. Teachers from the latter generation who worked for the promotion include Prof So Yamane, Prof T. Matsumura, Prof Hiroshi Kankagaya and Prof Kensaku Mamiya.

This plant is now producing cherry-red flowers. The fragrance of these flowers, strange as it seems, has a colour, too — it is green, the colour of our national flag. What has prompted me to write these lines is the title of a book, ‘Surkh phoolon ki sabz khushboo’, meaning the green fragrance of red flowers, which appeared in December 2012.

iPillow

China poised to control strategic Pakistani port

 China is poised to take over operational control of a strategic deep-water Pakistani seaport that could serve as a vital economic hub for Beijing and perhaps a key military outpost, according to officials.  

The construction of the port, in the former fishing village of Gwadar in troubled Balochistan province, was largely funded by China at a cost of about $200 million. It has been a commercial failure since it opened in 2007, because Pakistan never completed the road network to link the port to the rest of the country.

Chinese control of the port would give it a foothold in one of the world’s most strategic areas and could unsettle officials in Washington, who have been concerned about Beijing’s expanding regional influence.

The port on the Arabian Sea occupies a strategic location between South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It lies near the Strait of Hormuz, gateway for about 20 per cent of the world’s oil.

Empowering spy agencies: Amidst walkouts, Fair Trial Bill sails through Senate

The Senate unanimously passed the Fair Trial Bill 2012 on Friday in a session marred by back-to-back walkouts by both opposition as well as government allies.

The bill – which has already been cleared by the National Assembly – was tabled in the upper house of Parliament by Law Minister Farooq H Naek. Neither side of the aisle opposed the proposed law. Deputy Chairman Kazim Baloch presided over the proceedings.

The Fair Trial Bill 2012 empowers spy agencies to intercept private communications in order to catch terrorists. The bill triggered a controversy after certain quarters felt that the wire-tapping powers would threaten privacy and civil liberties.

Walkouts

Lawmakers from the Awami National Party (ANP) staged a walkout in protest against the fresh wave of target killings in Karachi and statements by Interior Minister Rehman Malik predicting more terrorist attacks in the country’s economic capital.

Chronicles of carnage: US ‘war’ in Pakistan regains intensity, states report

CIA drones pounded Pakistani soil with renewed intensity during the first month of 2013, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s monthly report based on the ‘Covert Drone War’ project.

In a jarring display that fuelled the recent, heightened spate of violence in Pakistan, January saw six drone strikes in merely nine days – a number exceeded only by August 2012. Compared to the January of last year, the number of strikes doubled this year.

The report also covered Yemen and Somalia. Yemen saw eight drone strikes during the month, with none of them confirmed as US attacks. No operations were reported in Somalia.

In Pakistan, there have been a total of 362 US drone attacks since 2004 – most of them during the tenure of incumbent President Barack Obama: 310 or 85.6%.

Although it is difficult to ascertain the exact number of casualties, the Bureau believes 2,629 to 3,461 people were killed and 1,267 to 1,431 wounded. Of the total fatalities, 475 to 891 were civilians, including 176 children.

High-value hits

The January drone strikes killed 27 to 54 people, of which 0 to 2 were reportedly civilians. Three senior, high-value militants were also successfully hit.

The very first strike of the month killed prized target Mullah Nazir. Nazir had been on the CIA hit-list for a long time, and had been involved with multiple attacks on Nato and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) commander Wali Muhammad Mehsud was also killed during the month, as was senior al Qaeda commander Sheikh Yaseen al Kuwaiti, reportedly hit by eight missiles while at home with daughter and wife.

The Taliban characterised

The report also indicated a supposed classification of the Taliban into two categories – ‘good’ and ‘bad’ – by the Pakistani military and intelligence community. Maulvi Nazir was apparently labelled as one of the ‘good’ Taliban because his group did not carry out terrorist attacks within the country. Following the same line of reasoning, the TTP emerged as the ‘bad’ Taliban, responsible for numerous bloody attacks in Pakistani cities.

Reservations over Pak-Iran pipeline: US

US Ambassador to Pakistan, Richard Olson has said that the United States continues to have reservations over the Pak-Iran gas pipeline but is willing to support any other measure to tackle the energy crisis in Pakistan.

While addressing the participants of the US Business Forum in Lahore, the American Ambassador said that the United States is a big sponsor of the Bhasha Dam.

He further said that corruption can be eliminated from Pakistan through democracy and transparent elections, adding that the people of Pakistan will have to bring forward honest leadership if they want good governance.

Medical colleges: the ever-increasing fee

EVERY year a handful of government-run medical colleges offer a limited number of seats for pursuing studies in medicine. Thousands of students vie for a slot and remain disappointed.
The rich then approach private medical colleges, offering education on a self-finance basis.
The sufferers are those students who are left out with only a slim margin and mostly belong to the middle class and cannot afford the self-financing scheme.
Some, however, do venture but finally land into trouble as these colleges raises fee annually. The limit of increase, as I understand, is five per cent but never adhered to by colleges.
This year colleges have sent notices for a 10 per cent increase in fee structure, barring a few who are satisfied with five per cent increase. The increase runs in the thousands of rupees, which a middle class person can hardly meet, thus jeopardising the plans of students who some times have to discontinue their studies.
This is injustice to talented youths who, if given a chance, attain the highest standard of education.
My son could not get admission to government-run media college as he was short of two marks to qualify on merit.

Passport & Pakistani consulate

I APPLIED for a new passport at the Pakistani consulate in Toronto, Canada. I was informed an urgent passport is delivered within 20 days at an extra charge.
I paid for one and now after 22 days of waiting, I am shocked to learn that the consulate takes no responsibility for delivering the urgent passport within the 20 days that it commits to do.
These are just false commitments made by the Pakistani consulate. It has no control over the preparation of new passports. The extra charge for an urgent passport is outright malpractice, considering the commitment is not honoured.
My flight is booked for Feb 6 and I cannot apply for a visa for Dubai without my passport.
What am I supposed to do? What if I miss my flight because of the delay in receiving my passport? Is the consulate answerable to anyone?

A message of peace from another time

It is said that those who migrate, live in a time warp. They see their past in their present and use it to define their future as well. This distortion allows them to continue to live with the people they left behind and to bring into their lives events from another period.
Although illusionary, living in a time warp can also be a blessing. This is how we felt on the evening we gathered at the tavern to celebrate Eid-e-Milad.
We decided we will do it the old-fashioned way, the way it was when we were young. So we spread a white sheet on the floor, placed cushions along the walls and requested people to wear traditional dresses for the occasion.
We even had agar-battis and gulab-pash, a little container used for sprinkling scented water on the audience.
Near the entrance, we placed little bottles of traditional perfumes, extracts of flowers we left behind, champa, chambeli, gulab. No, we did not call them jasmine or roses, not that evening.
In the middle, we placed a red, hand-woven carpet with more cushions and a rahal, which we used in the maktab while learning to recite the Holy Quran.
There were no supersize cakes, no motorised devices, no sticks, no swords and no shooting in the air.
After recitals from the holy book by a sister-brother duo, we invited some older kids to recite na’at. And here too, we stuck to the tradition. Instead of going for modern poems composed on popular tunes, we selected three, one each by poets Hali, Zafar Ali Khan and Allama Iqbal.
Then we asked one of our members, who is associated with a local Sufi circle and is widely respected in the community for his moderate views, to “read the milad.”
He started with a tale that we often heard at milads in our days, which now seem like another age.
“God, where are you? I want to become your servant. Mend your battered shoes. Comb your hair. Wash your clothes. Kill the lice and fleas. I would bring you fresh milk,” said the shepherd.
“I wish to kiss your hand. Rub your feet. I would sweep your bedroom clean and keep it neat. And prepare your bed when you are sleepy. I’d sacrifice my herd of goats for you. Give away my life for you and those of my sons.

New provinces on administrative not ethnic grounds, says Nawaz

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif on Monday said that creation of new provinces should only be based on administrative grounds and not on linguistic or ethnic, 
Speaking while chairing the party’s consultative meeting in Model Town Lahore, he said the “Bahawalpur province” is deep-rooted aspiration of people of the area. However, he added that Punjab should only be divided according to resolution passed by the provincial assembly.
The meeting was attended, among others, by Chief Minister Punjab Shahabaz Sharif and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
Important national issues like voter lists, limitations of constituencies and overall political situation of the country were consulted upon in the meeting.
During his speech, Nawaz Sharif said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was raising the slogan of dividing Punjab on political grounds, adding that division of the province based on pure abhorrence would not accepted at any cost.
He reiterated that creation of new provinces should only be based on administrative grounds instead of linguistic or ethnic.