As expected the champions trophy that was to be held in Pakistan has been cancelled. The ICC says its only postponed until October 2009 but we all know it ain’t gonna happen no more. Not in Pakistan anyway. South Africa was the first team to pull out. Australia, New Zealand, England and even West Indies (didn’t expect these guys) were going to boycott next. So the ICC ‘postponed’ it. Although it was a pretty useless tournament but Pakistan needed it. Anyway, with the current situation which is going to stay ‘current’ for a long time due to the ‘war of terror’ I guess its going to be a long long time before Pakistan actually play any useful cricket. I was really looking forward to Shoaib Akhtar’s ‘comeback’ but I guess thats not gonna happen now. Rest in peace Pakistan cricket…

If you haven’t heard of the Stack Overflow yet, you should cause its awesome. I’ve been checking the beta out and its really good. Forget all the other programming forums and sign up for the beta here. For more information on what exactly this is check out this blog. Started by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky it attempts to solve all your programming question needs under one roof. Check it out and give your positive feedback to the developers so they can make it even more awesome. Beware though, it can be addictive…

The great Mohammad Asif’s B sample has come positive. Which means that he would be banned for at least 2 years. Although he’s going to challenge the tests but I’m not too optimistic. So its goodbye from Asif for at least 2 years. See you after the ban. Don’t do drugs again and don’t sell that Mercedes…

In other news Shoiab Akhtar has been told to pay the Rs. 7 million fine that he owes the PCB before he can play in the Champions Trophy. Another U-turn in board’s policy a day after the leader of PCB resigned. Wierd stuff happening. One day he’s in next day he’s out. How exactly are they going to hold the champions trophy in this confusion oriented atmosphere?

Pervez Musharraf the president of Pakistan resigned from his post and said goodbye during a live address to the nation today. Musharraf came to power in 1999 and goes after 9 years of rule not uncommon for a military general, 8 of which were spent in uniform. Jubilant scenes were reported from some areas in Pakistan where people celebrated by eating mithai and doing bhangra. In some places there were tears and mourning. But most of the Pakistanis remained indifferent to the ‘regime change’ not sure whether to be happy or sad.

Musharraf had been threatened with impeachment by the ruling coalition unless he resigned. Apparently the US had also stopped supporting him so he decided to say goodbye leaving behind, a new look Zardari to take care of Pakistan. A new era of ‘democracy’ has begun today. But will the the Chief Justice will be restored in 72 hours remains to be seen. And what about the American war we’re fighting. What about the Taliban and Al-Qaida and all that crap? The maulvis are obviously happy to see Musharraf go. This move may lead to more instability and uncertainty giving the US the opportunity to take out Pakistan’s nuclear weapons with a clean strike.

Nawaz Zardari

The west will not be happy because Musharraf was the man keeping ‘Pakistan’s extremists in check’ (or so they say anyway). Can Zardari be that man for them also remains to be seen. If Musharraf really cared about Pakistan he would have taken Zardari with him. Instead the gave him to us as a farewell present. In any case its more turbulence ahead for Pakistan. So hold on and try to enjoy the ride. Until its over…

Yesterday was the day of the rain in Lahore. We’ve been having this Monsoon stuff going on since the start of August but yesterday was like some kind of record breaking thing. I wouldn’t have reached my place of work had I been traveling on buses. The rains have provided much needed relief from the killer heat of June and July. Survival in August is much easier now. In fact I didn’t even need to turn on my fan last night. Saved some electricity to celebrate tomorrow’s ‘Independence Day’. Anyway the rain was pretty baddish and brought most of the daily life to a screeching halt. Lots of water is still on the streets. In the meantime more rain is expected over the next few days so be prepared to get wet or carry an umbrella with you like I do…

The two ‘major parties’ of the ‘coalition’ government have agreed on a plan to impeach the former General Pervez Musharraf of his presidency. The man who came to power through a coup in 1999 and sent the then prime minister packing into exile took off his uniform this year. As usually happens in Pakistan the military man was very popular when he came to power but became progressively less popular over time. And now Pakistanis don’t like him any more. Instead they revere the saviour of democracy Nawaz Sharif and the widower Zardari. Pakistanis have unusually short memories, so politicians can reinvent themselves every few years. Anyhoo this ‘impeachment’ drama is expected to go on for some time making a lot of headlines and keeping the ‘news reporters’ busy.The president in the meantime has canceled his trip to China to watch the Olympics and is going to stay here and fight.

On the lawyers front Aitzaz Ehsan is worried that this escapade will take the ‘focus’ away from the ‘judges restoration issue’ and it will be put on the back burner. He says the judges restoration should be the top priority of the ruling coalition. Restore judges first, impeach second. He reiterated his 14th August deadline for the restoration of deposed judges. Unfortunately the ‘ruling coalition’ has other ideas. Sharif wants to get rid of Musharraf first. So we’ll have to wait till 14 August to see the next ‘long march’ from lawyers. In the meantime stay glued to your television sets and keep watching Geo, Aaj, Express, Dawn and other channels to get your minute by minute fix of the political drama.

The ‘war of terror’ is as usual in full swing with local Taleban doing all sorts of things. When they are not fighting ‘infidels’ they’re burning schools or beheading spies or taking soldiers hostage. Its a sad state of affairs. Most Pakistanis believe that Pakistan is fighting America’s war. That USA is paying Pakistan to destroy itself and make it the ‘most dangerous place on earth’, so the US can stay in this region indefinitely. Neither do they want to close the Afghanistan border on their side nor allow Pakistan to close theirs. The taleban problem only emerged when the US came here. So I guess, until US is ready to go back we’re stuck with this war. That could take a while though. But what happened to the foreign policy shakeup that was promised by the new government? What happened to solving the problems with the local taleban using dialogue instead of force? Maybe I should watch more TV.

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Several hundred Indonesian Muslims rallied on Monday in Jakarta and Surabaya, urging the government to disband the Ahmadiyya sect which many followers of Islam consider heretical.

The government of the world’s most populous Muslim country has come under increasing pressure from hard-line groups in recent months to ban Ahmadiyya, whose followers refuse to accept the Prophet Mohammad as Islam’s final prophet.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s government issued a ministerial decree in June that stopped short of banning the sect, but warned that followers could face five years in jail for tarnishing religion.

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir addressed supporters of the hard-line organization Muslim Forum (FUI), including women and children, at a rally near the presidential palace in Jakarta on Monday.

“Ahmadiyya is not Islam, so Ahmadiyya must be disbanded. Anyone who admits to being Muslim but is still defending Ahmadiyya is an apostate,” Bashir said, adding that Ahmadiyya must not claim to be part of Islam.

Indonesia, a secular nation with a population of 226 million, is predominantly Muslim.

Moderate Muslims have criticized the government for not taking a tougher stance against militant Islamic groups following several incidents in which places of worship were damaged and individuals intimidated.

Ahmadiyya, estimated to have anywhere between 200,000 and 2 million followers in Indonesia, has been a subject of heated controversy after Indonesia’s Ulema Council, the country’s Islamic authority, branded the group “deviant”.

A government team tasked with monitoring religious groups had previously recommended that Ahmadiyya should be banned.

Source: Rueters

Indonesian hardliners rally against’deviant’ sect

JAKARTA (AFP) — Hundreds of white-clad Muslim hardliners took to the streets of the Indonesian capital Monday to demand the government ban a minority Islamic sect branded “deviant” by top clerics.

Firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was among more than 1,500 protesters from various Islamist groups who chanted slogans, shouted Allahu akbar (God is greater) and waved banners condemning the Ahmadiyah sect.

They blocked the street in front of Jakarta’s presidential palace to demand President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issue a decree to ban the sect, which has been the subject of months of heated debate.

Bashir, who was convicted but subsequently cleared of conspiracy over the deadly Bali bombings of 2002, told the crowd through a loudspeaker that the sect was “the most dangerous enemy of Islam.”

“Ahmadiyah is the enemy of Islam. They are the infidels that have been trying to destroy Islam, not using violence but through their deviant principles,” he said.

“Ahmadiyah must be dissolved as it is more dangerous than communism.”

The controversy has raised questions about tolerance and pluralism in the world’s most populous Muslim country, where religious freedom is a constitutional right.

Calls to ban Ahmadiyah have been mounting since June when the government ordered the sect, which has peacefully practised its faith in Indonesia since the 1920s, to stop spreading its belief that Mohammed was not the last prophet.

The ministerial decree fell short of the ban demanded by Muslim leaders after the country’s top Islamic body issued a fatwa describing the sect as “deviant.”

Ahmadiyah, which claims 500,000 followers in Indonesia, holds that its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the final prophet and not Mohammed, contradicting a central tenet of mainstream Islam.

Source: AFP