Peshawar Assembly and PushtoAccording to the Nawa-e-Waqt, the NWFP assembly was drowned in shouting when a member presented the resolution for making Pushto a compulsory subject up to 8th class in all schools of the province. An MPA from Hazara said that in his district, the population spoke Punjabi and therefore Pushto was not acceptable. Jamaat e-Islami minister Sirajul Haq also opposed the motion but ANP strongly supported it. Hazara members said that the resolution could impose Pushto on Pushtun areas only. After that, there was pandemonium in the house.
Qazi loves music
Quoted in Khabrain, Jamaat Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad said that he loved music and was intellectually impressed with Maududi and Iqbal, but remembered Dast-e-Saba of Faiz too. His greatest grief was the taking of Al Quds by the Jews and he could not sleep at night after the Fall of Dhaka.
Moral police in Gujranwala
According to the Nawa-e-Waqt, the DCO in Gujranwala had given orders that all theatres showing dance would be closed down. He had set up monitoring teams who would go round checking the seven theatres in the city for dance. He had already closed down three theatres: Geo Theatre for Akhiyan karan nazaray (Eyes enjoy scenes), Roxy for Giyaran nariyan (Eleven girls) and Bilawal Theatre for Kuryan chan vargiyan (Girls like moons).
Musharraf’s star is up!
The daily Khabrain published the prediction of astrologer Dr Farooqi, saying that Musharraf’s star Jupiter was in the ascendant and he was going to become the most popular leader in the future. Something startling would happen after 22 July 2005 to make his position stronger. After August 2005, Pakistan would test more nuclear weapons. The stars were kind to Ghulam Mustafa Khar who would soon get Ms Bhutto’s full support in the PPP.
Osama’s brother defends him
Quoted in the daily Pakistan, Yaslam bin Laden said his younger half brother was his beloved and he would defend him if he got caught. He said he was hiding somewhere on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Yaslam was from an Iranian mother while Osama was from a Syrian mother. Yaslam was with Osama from 1978 to 1981 and was six years his elder. He was educated in Lebanon and America.
CII is ‘kuppi’ group!
Quoted in the daily Pakistan, JUI chief and MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the Council for Islamic Ideology (CII) was newly set up to let the rulers drink wine. CII members were known as a kuppi (cup) group of drunkards. He asked Shujaat and Mushahid to swear that they had not accepted the passage of Hasba Bill by the NWFP assembly during negotiations.
Shamim Qureshi and Sayd Akbar
Writing in the Jang, Javed Chaudhry stated that late astrologer Shamim Qureshi was from Kashmir where he had met a Pathan named Sayd Akbar. The same Pathan killed prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951 while Shamim stood next to Sayd at a public meeting. Shamim got his ability to predict from Benaras and he correctly predicted the death of Rajiv Gandhi. He was much sought after by the intelligence agencies.
9/11 denied on Australian TV
According to the Nawa-e-Waqt, leader of Ahle Sunnat Muslims in Australia Sheikh Muhammad Imran told the Australians on Australian TV that Osama bin Laden had not done the 9/11 bombings, nor had the Muslims done the 7/7 bombings. Osama he said was an exemplary (azeem) Muslim and there was no proof against him for doing terrorism.
‘Jemima goes love-crazy’
According to Khabrain, Jemima Khan and actor Hugh Grant got so heated up (itnay andhay ho gayay) that they forgot to draw down the curtains while making love during a tryst in the UK. The housemaid entered the bedroom and saw them both in a bad situation and called her own husband to witness the act.
Using Robert Fisk in Urdu
After Irfan Siddiqi in the Nawa-e-Waqt, Irshad Haqqani in the Jang, Jamaat leader Hafiz Idrees referred to the British journalist Robert Fisk’s accusation that America and Britain were responsible for 9/11 and 7/7. In his article in Khabrain, he said that the Muslims were being victimised in the UK while Britain and the US were bombing Baghdad. He said there was an evil triangle in the world consisting of America, India and Israel.
Friend of Shamzai killed
According to the daily Pakistan, a friend of the late head of Banuri Mosque, Mufti Shamzai, and the head of the Orangi Town mosque (of Sipah Sahaba), Maulana Shamsuddin, was kidnapped and shot to death by unknown assailants in Karachi.
Boota Pir lives!
According to the Nawa-e-Waqt, in Layyah a Boota Pir has been discovered whose grave cures people of all sorts of diseases including skin disease. People use soil and oil available at the grave. Once a bulldozer was used to level the place, but the driver was stricken with blindness. The place he wanted to level contained the graves of Lal Shah and Alamdar. Then people saw dreams about surrounding the area with walls and creating a darbar. Thousands of rupees of charahwah (gifts) are showered on the grave.
Who is against Musharraf?
Writing in the Jang, Irshad Haqqani said that President Musharraf’s statement that he was in contest with reactionary (raj’at pasand) forces was not right. In fact, he had recently described the opposition of the liberals to him. He had admitted that on mixed marathons, he was in a minority together with the liberals. In the Mukharan Mai case, he had castigated the NGOs and liberals and called their outlook as dangerous as that of the fundamentalists.