The Young Blood

While the Pakistani cricket team lost all tests and ODIs played against Australia so far, there is another Pakistan team out there that is doing the exact opposite: winning. I'm talking about no other than the Under-19 Pakistani cricket team. Pakistan's U-19 team is so far undefeated in the tournament. Lead by captain Azeem Ghumman, They, through hard work and determination, have now made it to the U-19 world cup final. And the team they are facing in the final is no other than Australia. Bravo for the young Pakistani team! If the they win this cup, it won't be a surprise if some great young players from the team like Babar Azam, Azeem Ghumman, Usman Qadir, and Raza Hasan are picked by the PCB to play for Pakistan at a bigger stage. This success in a way secures the the future of Pakistani cricket but puts the "experienced" players who are currently playing on team into the hotseat. Afridi was recently caught saying to the press that players should start playing for the team and not themselves and that experienced players [Afridi, Younus, Yousuf, and K.Akmal] should be replaced if they are not playing well. This confirms my prediction but will the Pakistani selectors be able to remove their favorite players who are still in the team even though they lack performance? This, like Pakistani cricket, remains unpredictable and something to look forward to. Anyway, All the best to our young blood who will face Australia in The U-19 world cup final on January 30th.

[Image © Getty Images]

Bhong Masjid

Bhong Mosque is located in the village of Bhong, Tehsil Sadiqabad in the district of Rahim Yar Khan, in Punjab. It was designed and constructed over a period of 50 years (1932-1982) and won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1986. A postal stamp with its picture was issued in May 12, 2004. The masjid is located at the distance of 200 kilometers from Bahawalpur and 50 kilometers from Rahim Yar Khan and is well known for its exquisite design and architectural beauty with gold leaves carved for the intricate decorative patterns and the stylish calligraphic work. Sardar Rais Ghazi Mohammad Indhar, a wealthy landlord, commissioned this mosque in 1932 to be the jewel of his new palace compound, which already included a mosque and a prestigious Madrasa (religious school) and was completed in 1982. Sardar Rais Ghazi Mohammad Indhar, client, designer, patron and landlord conceived, directed and funded the entire building construction. The construction of mosque was carried out by specialists gathered from all over Pakistan and India: master masons from Rajastan, India; craftsmen from Multan for the glazed tile, mosaic and woodwork; and painters and calligraphers from Karachi. Workshops were set up to train craftsmen in skills that had originally been passed from father to son. Materials and crafts used range from the traditional - teak, ivory, marble, colored glass, onyx, glazed tile, fresco, mirrors, gilded tracery, ceramics, calligraphy and inlay - to the modern and synthetic marbled industrial tile, artificial stone facing, terrazzo, colored cement tile and wrought iron. Sardar Rais Ghazi's intention was to represent as many forms of popular craft and as many Islamic religious architectural features as possible. Over the 50 years of its evolution, the Bhong Mosque Complex has generated jobs and trained approximately 1000 workers and craft men in indigenous crafts. Its construction laid an edifice for socio-economic development and provision of basic amenities of life including market roads, schools, electricity, gas, bank, hospital, post office etc, to the local population.

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The Indian Conspiracy

The recent IPL snub of Pakistani cricketers is another attempt of the Indian government to isolate Pakistan from the international eye. It may sound like another conspiracy but it has many events backing it up. The attempts started last year with the Lahore attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team. Indian involvement was suspected and even made public by Lahore's Chief Capital City Police Officer Pervaiz Rathor. Although evidence was found against india, the Pakistani government decided not to point fingers and played down the Indian involvement in the terrorist attack. Later that year, Pressured by India, ICC stripped Pakistan of it's world cup hosting rights because it was considered an "unsafe" venue. Which was quite a surprising move as the rest of the hosting countries were all going through and are going through a conflict. Sri lanka was going through a civil war at the time, Bangladesh had a mutiny between it's forces [and is in chaos most of the time], India later that year had a terrorist attack killing 173 of their citizens and wounding hundreds more, and yet Pakistan was the one considered "unsafe". To his defence, Lalit Modi [the chairman and commissioner of IPL] claims that a quite number of international phenomenons were not selected in the auction as well. Well does the idiot Modi understand how big Pakistan is when it comes to Twenty20?!? We were runners up on the first T20 world cup and are the current world champions! The Lahore Badshahs [the one and only Pakistani ICL cricket team] won the ICL championship and some of it's most successful players were up for auction. Also, Pakistani players are acknowledged worldwide for their excellence in several countries' domestic leagues, most recently Shahid Afridi in the KFC bash in Australia, where he made his team which had lost all hopes reach the final. To further support my belief I have to point out the fact that the IPL in the beginning pleaded for the Pakistani players to join their league and made them go through many obstacles just to get them to be a part of the auction. And for what? For them to be discriminated against by the Indian franchises?!? Or to make the IPL more popular by using the stardom and popularity of the Pakistani cricketers?!? Pakistani players are huge in India [and were even used to advertise the IPL] but the Indian authority doesn't seem to understand that. In my understanding, India's ignorance and stupid behavior against Pakistan will be the cause of their fall in the international limelight.

The picture below displays the character of Lalit Modi, the commissioner and chairman of IPL [The girl is Preity Zinta]

Eternal Happiness

I was going through some Pakistani blogs and came across such an interesting post [link below] that it inspired my to write this . Although i have spent years of my life studying Pakistani history, lifestyle, and politics, i have always wanted to live there. I'm based in New York [the financial capital of the world] and whenever i tell someone that i want to shift to Pakistan they'll always give me a weird look and say: "why in the world would you wanna do that? there's nothing there!" I would just usually laugh at their statement because in the past years they probably visited or contacted their relatives in Pakistan much more often then i did. What i mean is; There's something about Pakistan that pulls us to it. It may be that it's our culture and religion that makes Pakistan so friendly for us to live in. Or it may also be the fact that as Pakistanis it is our home and no matter where we live in the world we live as Pakistanis; not as Americans or Brits or any other nationality we inherit by documents.Even though Pakistan may be behind most nations in almost every facility that can be offered, a person can live a much happier life in Pakistan. And I mean that in the most un-materialistic fashion. Communities in Pakistan thrive because they are very close [relatives most of the time] and every one eventually interacts with one another. In the western world, every searches for success and money and most of the important decisions they make in life they overpower materialistic goods [like money] over something that can give them everlasting happiness such as love. I'm not saying that doesn't happen in Pakistan but it happens much less. There you go ladies and gentlemen, These are my reasons to go back home; Thought of yours yet?

Joy In Pakistan: Five Rupees

Khunjerab National Park

Khunjerab National Park is a National park located in Khunjerab [Northern Areas]. It is one of the highest altitude parks in the world. It provides the habitat for a number of endangered and threatened animal species like the Snow leopard, Marco Polo sheep, and Himalayan Ibex.

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No Performers, Just Favorites

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The fact that the Pakistani cricket team hasn't won a test match in the last 4 years is not that shocking. In the Pakistan cricket team there always have been favorites instead of people who cannot perform. For example, Misbah Ul Haq. His performance in the game has failed to impress anyone for the last 2 years and yet he was included in the test team against Australia. Same goes for Kamran akmal; the wicketkeeper who drops more catches than the fielders. Although some fresh blood has been introduced to the team over the past year who made quite an impact [Mohammad Aamir, and Umar Akmal,] but it's the senior players that always seem to find a way to mess up. Make it Salman Butt, Muhammad Yousaf, Kamran Akmal, or even Faisal Iqbal. We need more people like Umar Gul, who do what they have to do on the field and not come to the press room with a big mouth. Also Muhammad Yousaf should stop trying to put the blame on other people and bring the team together in terms of performance. That way he'll be atleast half the captain Younus was. It's very unfortunate to say that the failure of the Pakistani cricket team is caused by no one but themselves.

Tomb Of Jahangir

Tomb of Jahangir is the mausoleum built for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir who ruled from 1605 to 1627. The mausoleum is located near the town of Shahdara Bagh in Lahore, Pakistan. His son Shah Jahan built the mausoleum 10 years after his father's death. It is sited in an attractive walled garden. It has four 30 meter high minarets. The interior is embellished with frescoes and pietra dura inlay and coloured marble. The mausoleum features prominently on the Pakistan Rupees 1,000 denomination bank note.

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India Is The Taliban

Every since the beginning the these suicide attacks in Pakistan, there have been some suspicions that the Tehrik-i-Taliban is being backed by India and it's intelligence agency; RAW. First they were rumors but later they slowly became more and more realistic. During Rah-e-Rast [the Swat operation conducted by the military], the military officials claimed that they have found Indian weapons that were being used by the Tehrik-i-Taliban. And it wasn't just any one else but the big shots of the army who claimed this. Later, during Rah-e-Nijat [military operation conducted in South Waziristan] the same claims were also made by both junior and senior officers that were involved in the operation. Some of the suicide attacks that were foiled last year also indicate that an external force was involved in arming the militants. But the confusing part is that when someone tries to bring this out to the public some higher power stops him/her. Why would the government try to cover this up? While India keeps on pointing fingers at Pakistan for everything that goes wrong in their country then why can't we actually blame them for something they did and are doing. I mean it is known fact that RAW is training militants that enter Pakistan from India's misplaced embassies in Afghanistan.The latest suicide attack took place in Rawalakot and targeted security men there. I see India's hand in this all the way. Who else would attack the security forces that are there to protect the people of Azad Kashmir from the Indian forces? While the western world ignores our evidence against India, it becomes quite scary to know who we're actually fighting and if the war is really against us. But no matter what the answers are, we will win this war because we have something that no other force in the world has on their side; ALLAH.

Hunza Valley

The Hunza Valley is a mountainous valley in Gilgit in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan. The Hunza valley is situated to the north of the Hunza River. Karimabad (formerly called Baltit) is the main town, which is also a very popular tourist destination because of the spectacular scenery of the surrounding mountains like Ultar Sar, Rakaposhi, Bojahagur Duanasir II, Ghenta Peak, Hunza Peak, Diran Peak and Bublimating (Ladyfinger Peak), all 6,000 metres (19,685 ft) or higher.

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Karakoram Highway

The Karakoram Highway (KKH) is the highest paved international road in the world. It connects China and Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an altitude of 4,693 m/15,397 ft. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is also referred to as the "Ninth Wonder of the World." Known as the Friendship Highway in China, it was built by the governments of Pakistan and China, and was completed in 1986, after 20 years of construction. 810 Pakistani and 82 Chinese workers lost their lives, mostly in landslides and falls, while building the highway. The route of the KKH traces one of the many paths of the ancient Silk Road. On the Pakistani side, the road was constructed by FWO (Frontier Works Organization), employing the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers. Presently, the Engineer-in-Chief branch of the Pakistani Army is working on a project documenting the history of the highway. It is being written by Brigadier (Retired) Muhammad Mumtaz Khalid, who oversaw its construction.

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Pakistan Promotes Islam

Pakistani hospitality is never questioned. Whether you are a returning Pakistani from abroad or a Sikh pilgrim from India; locals will always treat you with more love and respect than you probably get back home. This also became the case recently when 9 boxers from Africa who came to compete in the Benazir Bhutto International Boxing tournament converted to Islam. They claim that they had no intention of converting to Islam at all before arriving in Pakistan but they were highly impressed by the way locals treated the boxers even though they were of a different religion (they were Christians). The thing that impressed them the most was that there is no discrimination in Islam. "Once you say Assalamo Alaykum, then you are accepted as a brother no matter what is the color of your skin, or what is your cast or creed" acknowledged Kalambaye, the Muslim coach of the Central African boxers. While speaking on behalf of the boxers who only speak their native language, Kalambaye also stated that the boxers did not covert to Islam on any pressure coming from him or anyone else, Instead they have chosen to covert to the religion of peace on their own will. "When we reached here, they saw how I was received and welcomed wherever I went and whoever I met by the local Muslims. Nobody cared about my black skin. I was greeted with warm hearts by the organizers or anybody who met me because of my faith. They saw that even being Christians they were received with same respect. They were garlanded when they reached the Karachi airport. That’s why they want to join that religion which teaches such affection for human kind". Younus Pathan, who was appointed to receive the Central Africans at the airport, said that since they were short on garlands, the visitors were garlanded after he asked some of the pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia (who were his relatives) to provide their garlands to welcome the guests. "Maybe it was the blessings of those garlands of the pilgrims" states proud Younus. It may also be noteworthy to put out there that before the boxers came to Pakistan, they felt uneasy to come to the nation as they had negative images in their minds about Pakistan and its society. Aren't we glad that changed lol. At this time and day when the western world neglects Islam, it's quite interesting to see 9 Christian boxers converting to Islam because of us Pakistanis. Keep it up Pakistan!

Pakistan Zindabad!!

Karachi Follows The Path Of Destruction

There is always chaos in big cities but ever since the Ashura blast there has been more chaos in Karachi than usual. And it's not another other force but the Karachites themselves that are causing this. The talibani attack has spread anger among the Karachities but, like i said before in one of my previous posts,they are responding very immaturaly to it. Unknownly they are helping the evil that damaged their society. And within the chaos the enemies of Pakistan are operating and destroying Karachi while posing as angered citizens of the city. The public is not the only one to blame though as our political leadership is doing nothing (like always). All they are doing is chanting slogans in Karachi's favor( Mr.Rehman Malik), but they fail to take action. It's really sad that Pakistan's biggest financial hub is slowly killing itself.

Kohistan

Kohistan is a district within Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. In 1998 it was reported to have a population of 472,570. Kohistan stretches from the border with Azad Kashmir in the east to Afghanistan's Nuristan province in the west. It also has a rich local history as a crossroads between Central, South and Southwestern Asia. Predominantly inhabited by Dardic and Pashtun tribes since ancient times, Kohistan has been invaded and contested by Persians, Greeks, Scythians, Kushans, Turks, Afghans, Mughals, and the British.

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