It is up to Hafeez now to demonstrate his leadership potential, which we all have heard of, and make that role of captain his very own.

After this revelation came the announcement of the new squad. No wait – the new squads. The dream that PCB was contemplating regarding three different teams finally came true.

But only four players made it to all three squads: Hafeez, Ajmal, Gul, and Mohammad Sami! While it is great that Sami’s made a comeback, how does one go from being out of favour for so long to being in favour for all three formats?

The selectors made a number of changes and it all seems like an utter kichri to me. I don’t mean to undermine them; I’m sure it was hard work but I don’t remember the last time so many players made a comeback.

T20 squad

Retained: Hafeez, Afridi, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Ajmal, Malik, Hammad

Dropped: Misbah, Awais, Wahab, Shafiq, Rehman, Cheema, A Akmal, Farhat, Junaid

Comebacks: Latif, Shehzad, Arafat, Tanvir, Sami, Jamshed

New Faces: Shakeel, Raza, Sohail

This is what I call a total overhaul.

Shoaib Malik’s retention upsets me. He has continuously failed at the international level, and it doesn’t matter that he’s performed in domestic cricket. Who hasn’t?

The axing of Awais Zia and Asad Shafiq is questionable.

Awais didn’t set the stage on fire in his debut series against England, however he showed potential. It doesn’t make sense to drop him after just one series. And what wrong did Shafiq do?

Besides Khalid Latif, who was the leading run scorer in the Faysal Bank T20 (FB T20), the other comebacks don’t make sense.

I am a big Ahmed Shehzad fan. He is a future Pakistan opener, however unless the BPL was part of the criteria, there is no basis for Shehzad’s return. Other batsmen, namely Imran Nazir, Shafiq, and Shahzaib scored more runs in the FB T20; Nazir and Shahzaib had decent outings in the BPL too.

Yasir Arafat, Sohail Tanvir, and Mohammad Sami have done nothing of note in domestic T20 competitions to warrant a comeback. Sami was outstanding in the BPL, Tanvir was a star in the South African T20 competition and Arafat has been a consistent performer in county cricket; but if foreign competitions are the criteria then the selectors need to make that clear.

Despite the questionable comebacks, the three new selections are well-deserved. Haris Sohail and Shakeel Ansar, both from the Sialkot Stallions, were among the top 5 run scorers in the FB T20, while Raza Hasan has been on the fringes of national selection for some time now.

Shakeel has been picked as a wicket keeper, and his century, which was the only one in the FB T20, showed that he can bat. But he’s 33-years-old; so the selectors aren’t exactly looking at a future prospect.

Sohail performed consistently for the Stallions in the FB T20 and has been a solid performer at the domestic level for the past 5 years. His T20 record with an average over 100 is phenomenal, and at 23, he is definitely one for the future.

Raza’s call to the national team couldn’t have been better-timed with him finishing as the leading wicket taker in the FB T20.

The selectors have picked a specialist T20 team keeping the World T20 in mind, but it is largely inexperienced. It will be interesting to see the combination they go in with considering the team is top-heavy with five openers.

ODI squad

Retained: Misbah, Hafeez, Jamshed, Younis , U Akmal, Sarfraz, Afridi, Gul, Ajmal, Rehman, Shafiq, Cheema, Azhar Ali

Dropped: Hammad, Wahab

Comebacks: Farhat, Sami 

New Faces: Rahat Ali

The ODI squad is almost what it was in the Asia Cup and the series against England, with just a few changes.

Wahab Riaz suddenly finds himself out of favour. The person replacing him is Mohammad Sami, who once again, did not do much this past season in List A cricket.

Imran Farhat’s inclusion and Hammad Azam’s exclusion are completely nonsensical. Farhat was dropped for the Asia Cup due to repeated poor performances; yet he comes back for the series against Sri Lanka. Why?

Every chance that Hammad got, he has shown potential. Hammad can be groomed to fill the gap left open by Abdul Razzaq. And yet, the selectors are on another plane.

Rahat Ali impressed Whatmore during the recently held fast bowlers’ camp. He also had an impressive first class season with 61 wickets at an average of 19, finishing as one of the leading wicket takers. But that was first class cricket, which should get him a place in the test team, rather than the ODI.

Test squad

Retained: Misbah, Hafeez, Taufeeq, Azhar Ali, Younis, Shafiq, A Akmal, Gul, Ajmal, Rehman, Junaid, Cheema

Dropped: U Akmal, Farhat, Talha, Wahab

Comebacks: Faisal Iqbal, Sami 

New faces: Afaq Raheem, Ayub Dogar

The way Pakistan’s Test team has performed over the past 18 months, there was no need for any changes, but the selectors thought otherwise.

Why drop Umar Akmal, who is the future of Pakistan’s batting? Sure, he has not been part of the starting XI in tests with Asad Shafiq being preferred, but Umar’s presence in the squad as a reserve batsman is imperative to his development.

Faisal Iqbal makes a comeback based on his impressive domestic performance. He had one of his most successful seasons with 1,013 runs at an average of 53.3. Faisal’s 5 centuries during the past season were second only to Usman Salahuddin’s 7.

However, Fawad Alam (1062 runs at 62.4), Haris Sohail (1184 runs at 49.33), and Yasir Hameed (1124 runs at 46.8) would be disappointed at being overlooked. But the man who would be most disappointed is Usman Salahuddin. With 1401 first class runs, an average of 77.8, and 7 centuries, Usman was by far the best batsman this past domestic season. Yet he finds himself on the sidelines.

Afaq Raheem was the only one who scored more first class runs than Usman last season, with 1420 runs at an average of 54.6. There is no doubt that Raheem deserves his places in the squad, but I believe Usman does too. Considering that Usman is only 21 years old, he should be considered as one for the future, especially over Ayub Dogar, who despite being the third highest domestic run scorer, he is 32 years old and not really one that Pakistan can build their test future around.

This is the only format where Mohammad Sami deserves a comeback. He had one of his best first class seasons ever with 56 wickets at an average of 16.6. But he doesn’t take international wickets.

A bowling average of 50 is hardly one to be proud of. This will surely be his last chance so im hoping he proves the statistics wrong.

As I said at the beginning, I feel the squads are a bit of a kichri, but more importantly the selectors have missed a few tricks: the lack of an anchor and over emphasis on openers in the T20 squad; lack of genuine pace bowling all-rounders in the ODI squad, and the decision to leave Umar Akmal and Rahat Ali out of the Test squad are poor.

This post originally appeared here.

Read more by Umair here, or follow him on Twitter @WellPitched

One thing that is glaringly obvious is that an artist’s sincerity can be judged from behind the scenes (BTS) clips. For instance, Humayun Khan sounded like a mature artist when he spoke about his experience of completing his education first and then switching to music, that too, at a time when the music landscape of Peshawer was changing.

But Symt displayed a naive and amateur giggling as the band explained their song,

If you are doing “poondi” (checking girls out), these are the lines that come to your mind.

That being said, here are my favourite tracks from episode one.

“Charkha Nolakha”: We want more from Qayaas

The clever thing “Coke Studio” did this time was the introduction of young artists, amongst whom Qayaas is undoubtedly the most noticeable. Currently the finest live act in Pakistan, Qayaas, after Karavan, is also perhaps the only band with a decent rock vocalist in the form of Umair Jaswal.

Their combination with Atif Aslam definitely worked out and the popularity of the song is reflective of that. However, the important question is: is this really what you expected of Qayaas? Certainly not.

Frankly, Rohail Hyatt was all over the song, so much so that keeping the previous popular songs of “Coke Studio” in mind,  you could have easily predicted its flow. Kudos to Atif and Umair for pulling off a powerful track well, but as a true Qayaas fan, it sounded pretty hollow to me.

Call me naive but when you have two amazing guitar players like Khurram Waqar and Sarmad Ghafoor, the least you expect is a couple of deadly guitar solos – not the typical Asad Ahmed riffs being played by someone else.

“Larsha Pekhawar Ta”: Pashto pop rocks

Having grown up in Quetta, the one tune that I grew up dancing to was the epic “Larsha Pekhawar Ta”.

Many thanks to “Coke Studio” for a funky version of the song. It was truly innovative and the experiment worked beautifully. However, when I shared this song with a friend who lives across the Durand Line, he said it was “totally annoying”. His comment was:

It lacks soul and I don’t feel like dancing to it.

He explained that while he was happy that non-Pashtuns were being exposed to Pashto music, he hated that Humayun Khan still let it go knowing that the song lacked the true essence and intensity that inspires one to do “Atan” (Pashto dance). I suppose Humayun may have felt intimidated by the other popular musicians and agreed with whatever they had to offer.

After discussing the song in depth with my friend, I concluded that:

• Coke Studio has a superficial understanding of Pashto music. Afghanistan is way ahead of us but is still giving it a more western touch.
• On a musical note, Farhad Humayun as a drummer and Mubasher Admani as a keyboard player are brilliant – no one from the last season is being missed.

Thumbs down for video production

For many, the biggest surprise of the episode was the participation of Bohemia. For me, it was the below average visual content of the show. The overall visual aspect of “Coke Studio” wasn’t as impressive as it usually is.  It seems as if the team is running out of steam in producing the show. Despite the accolades attached to Adnan Malik, so far the visuals seem to be a rather half-hearted attempt visually.

What do you guys think?

 Read more by Rafay here. 

Thaer Halahla was on the brink of death as the deal was secured. The father of one had been detained without charge for two years and has never even met his daughter – her existence is only known to him through a few pictures.

Ironically, an Israeli spokesperson had stated:

This is about hard-core activists, from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who through this protest are trying to instigate violence.

Clearly this representative hasn’t heard of the term ‘non-violent resistance’ – a peaceful method of protesting used by Palestinians to fight for freedom.

Thaer Halahla, despite what you might read in the Israeli media, was not instigating violence.

The 33-year-old was indeed prepared to die in his fight for freedom. He, along with an estimated 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, were in administrative detention – in other words, they were held without charge or a fair trail.

Palestinian prisoners are subjected to solitary confinement, daily body searches (including female prisoners being frisked by male guards), abuse and taunting – the list is endless.

Thaer’s struggle for freedom was put in beautiful words in the form of a heartbreaking letter, written to his one-year-old baby girl.

The following are some excerpts from his letter:

My Beloved Lamar, forgive me because the occupation took me away from you, and took away from me the pleasure of witnessing my firstborn child that I have always prayed to God to see, to kiss, to be happy with. It is not your fault; this is our destiny as Palestinian people to have our lives and the lives of our children taken away from us, to be apart from each other and to have a miserable life.

When you grow up you will understand how injustice was brought upon your father and upon thousands of Palestinians whom the occupation has put in prisons and jail cells, shattering their lives and future for no reason other then their pursuit of freedom, dignity and independence. You will know that your father did not tolerate injustice and submission, and that he would never accept insult and compromise, and that he is going through a hunger strike to protest against the Jewish state that wants to turn us into humiliated slaves without any rights or patriotic dignity.

This non-violent letter reached millions worldwide. Not a single stone was thrown, no gunshots were fired and it was only Thaer’s determination to die that finally brought him justice.

In Pakistan, cars are set on fire, cities are brought to a halt and people are murdered. It is not the police, but innocent civilians who suffer as a result of these protests.

Do you think the average business owner in the Lea Market area has sufficient insurance to cover the cost of damages? Of course not.

Yesterday, I was thinking about Thaer Halahla and his fellow detainees when I sat down for my evening meal. I was awestruck by this man who was so determined to have his voice heard that he didn’t eat in 77 days – the longest hunger strike ever.

Palestinians use non-violent resistance to protest for their basic human rights. There is no freedom as far as Israel is concerned. If you speak in Arabic, you can be arrested; if you peacefully protest against Israeli policie, you can be arrested.

The Palestinians use civil rights methods such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), which targets Israeli products and companies violating international law and benefiting from Israeli occupation.

Many people in Pakistan, too, are going through agonising times. They too have just cause to go into the streets of Karachi, Lahore and every other city; they have the right to be heard. But trust me, as an eye witness to Israel’s oppression, violence only makes you as bad as they are.

Effectively, they have prepared well for the upcoming elections. And even though the tsunami is coming for them, they are still focused on the real competitor. One would say that they are ready to go to the polls and seize power. However, all is not what it seems to be – my personal belief is that the PML-N will lose the national elections again. Here are my reasons:

Inability to evolve

In a country that is obsessed with the word ‘change’, it does pay off to be the consistent one. While people harp on about change, a large majority likes things the way are; not because they are fair, but because they understand how things get done within the current scenario. So while there is always this urge to change everything, majority of the people are content with the way things are and only wish for a few tweaks here and there.

In such a situation, one would imagine that a party like the PML-N would thrive by making small changes to make life easier for people. But that is the whole issue; change and evolution is not the same thing. The PML-N, instead of evolving over time into a mature party, is still trying to get on the bandwagon of ‘change’.

The problem with that is that one cannot be in a provincial government and harp on about change – that is effectively an oxymoron. What you can do instead is focus on better governance, and that’s exactly what the PML-N hasn’t done in the past four-and-a-half years. While people claim that Bhutto-ism or the tsunami will defeat the PML-N, they are all wrong; the PML-N will defeat itself.

No media strategy

Apparently Senator Pervaiz Rasheed is heading some sort of media strategy for the PML-N. However, no one seems to have seen that in action. The PML-N often cries that when the party does something, they never get credit for it; that’s because the message never really gets out.

Compare this to the PTI. Even though I do not agree with their views, there is no doubt that it is brilliantly efficient at getting its message across. People identify the word ‘Insaf’ with them when it is used in any context. That is the power of excellent media management and strategy.

The PML-N, on the other hand, wastes money and hopes that things will work out. So while Senator Pervaiz Rasheed is doing ‘excellent’ work for the PML-N, the party is slowly dying a very public media death.

No message

Does anyone, including Mian Sahib, know what the message of the PML-N is? What exactly are they going to fix when they come into power?

The economy is in crisis, there is a food shortage expected to last the next two years and we are expecting floods in August. What is the PML-N going to do about that? What is anyone else going to do to if they come into power?

Saying “we shall end corruption” does not cut it, because politically speaking, a certain level of corruption exists in every system as it is endemic.

This question is in no way limited to the PML-N; this is a real question for all parties including the PPP and the PTI.

Since we have taken huge loans, our budget is constructed in accordance with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank; so no party can make massive changes to it as there is no money.

I wonder what the PML-N’s message is. It’s been four years and all I have heard is complaints about what the PPP does wrong, while presenting nothing as an alternative.

Below par leadership

The PML-N will lose out because of the leadership. It’s not Mian Sahib who is the problem; it is others like Chaudhry Nisar whose words and actions contradict each other. Another is Senator Pervaiz Rasheed who effectively blocks any decent idea from being carried forward. Amir Muqam is also one who has an impeccable record of not doing anything.

With such a cadre of leaders, how can one win? It’s like the PML-N has spent the last eight months trying to make sure that the public face of the party is disliked, if not hated.

Bad advisors

This is a problem with most political parties, but with with the PML-N it’s more serious. It is a well known fact that both the Sharif brothers adhere strictly to the words of their advisors; whatever is fed to them is what they start believing eventually.

The current mix of advisors are more interested in personal benefits than the long run sustainability of the party. It is due to this narrow-mindedness that the party lacks a crop of young leadership that could take over the in the future. The cherry on this cake of errors is that most of these advisers who are given the task of advising a political party and its leaders are not even elected members. They are people who have no long term stakes in the well-being of the political party.

A few months ago, Ayaz Amir wrote an effective obituary of the PTI in his column. At that time people said he had jumped the gun, while many agreed with him. If he were to look at the PML-N now, that obituary would fit like a glove.

The PML-N is a party that does not need enemies; they are their own worst enemies. All these reasons have always existed – the PTI’s emergence has merely highlighted them.

So while Mian Sahib tells Pakistan why the prime minister is wrong, what he doesn’t understand is that his party should be the last to talk about right and wrong. His own members are destroying his party and he hasn’t been able to see it in four years.

One wonders how a leader will run the country when he can’t manage even his own party.

Read more by Adnan here, or follow him on Twitter @adnanrasool

‘Wasim bhai ap thaktay nahin hain?’

(Wasim brother, don’t you get tired?)

‘Nahi, mein cigarette nahin peeta.’

(No, because I don’t smoke.)

These simple words uttered by Wasim Akram in an anti-smoking advertisement many years ago are still remembered by millions. I am sure all those born in the 80s watched this advertisement on their television sets, and those who missed it must have seen it on YouTube.

Why is it that we still remember this ad?

It is simply because the commercials of yesteryear had a certain feel to them. Even today, they successfully manage to grab our attention, and as soon as we watch them we can instantly recall the brand or campaign that they were associated with.

So why do these ads have such a high brand recall rate?

Firstly, most of the advertisements themselves were very simple, which makes sense as it is as it is believed that simplicity is beauty; these commercials had the power to gain and retain the viewer’s attention.

Secondly, the emotional connect of commercials of the past was really high, and one could actually create a need to buy the product advertised.

State Life Insurance’s ‘Ay khuda meray abbu salamat rahain’ (Dear God, please keep my father safe) or Molty Foam’s ‘Meri nannhi pari naye ghar ko chali’ (my little angel is going to a new home) are the two most relevant examples of this proposition.

Thirdly and most importantly the fact that PTV was the only channel - thanks to the sheer absence of cable television – also made a huge difference. Plus, the mindset that advertising is a waste of money made whatever few commercials that went on air grab the attention of viewers wholly and completely.

Coming back to the commercials we watch these days, it is undeniable that there is a glimpse of the past in them. Many carry the same concept that was prominent in the advertisements of  the past. 

The well appreciated and much talked about Mr White Smoker’s toothpaste advertisement, starring legendary actor Moin Akhtar, is reminiscent of Wasim Akram’s anti-smoking advertisement because of its simplicity.

The well known Pepsi commercial ‘kisnay kaha tha Pepsi pay 5 rupay kam kerdo?’ (who said to lower Pepsi’s price by Rs5?) is another example of an ad gaining popularity due to its simplicity.

The sense of emotional attachment portrayed in the commercials of earlier years can still be witnessed in the recent campaigns of National Foods and Tapal Tea.

Still, these companies do not enjoy similar brand recall. This is why most of the them have resorted to dance, comedy and mockery, creating a vicious clutter which makes it difficult for the viewer to recall the brand that an advertisement is promoting.

The war to be ubiquitous on every channel is making the situation even worse.

But there is some hope. Gurus sitting in the creative departments of the advertising agencies have figured a way out and it seems to be working; having a face for the brand.

Recent research carried out by the students of SZABIST found that Ufone has the highest brand recall because they have the same actors in all of their commercials which go on air.

In addition to this, complementing a commercial with other mediums on television, like branded content, also helps increase brand recall. For instance, Tarang’s “Hero Bannay ki Tarang” show or the 360 degree marketing campaigns by Dove and Pantene shampoo.

Only if brands carry out thorough preliminary research about their target market instead of jumping on the bandwagon, their advertisement campaigns might end up being more productive. It is also important to keep the local culture in mind, and realise that what’s popular abroad, may not necessarily be successful in Pakistan too. Plus, we need to give our young generation a chance to integrate their fresh ideas with those of the company.

If these suggestions are put into practice, it will certainly give remarkable results and make the shareholders and the owners feel that the advertising budget was spent well.

Read more by Salman here, or follow him on Twitter @jilani7

Daddy, please don’t kill me. I won’t make you angry. I’ll be a good daughter; I won’t ask you for expensive clothes and toys. Please don’t kill me.

But I was killed after just 30 days in my mom’s uterus.

This is what an unborn female fetus may feel when it is brutally murdered by her own family. Aamir Khan’s production, “Satyamev Jayate”, that aired on May 6, inspired me by its very first episode, showing the darker side of society.

This opened my eyes to a problem which is both common and heart-rending. Although I realise that I live in a society where women are often criticised and used as objects to please everyone they are related to, it was still difficult for me to digest the fact that the majority of people in certain societies feel no regret when killing the unborn female fetus.

They do it just for the sake of having a baby boy who would carry their family’s name forward.The research on the show displayed a highly dismal picture regarding the survival rate of females compared with males.

After watching this show, I wondered if this was only happening in India. Is Pakistan free from this practice?

To answer my questions and satisfy my conscience, I did a bit of research and found a report by CNN called “Killing of infants on the rise in Pakistan“, published in 2011, which stated that over 1,200 newborns were killed and dumped in Pakistan in that year, which was an increase of about 200 from the previous year. Statistics show that roughly nine out of 10 newborns killed are female.

I was completely shocked by the statistics presented in the report.

Man has no right to decide whether a baby should live or die. We must learn to respect this wonderful gift of God, be it a boy or a girl.

Two distinct themes emerged from this trial; firstly, the perpetrators were by and large men of Pakistani heritage and the victims were young white women. On its own, there is nothing extraordinary about this.

However, in 2010, in separate trials held in Derby and Rotherham, some 14 men, overwhelmingly of Pakistani origin, were convicted of a catalogue of sexual offences against vulnerable girls, young white women – with some as young as 12 – who were groomed and sexually abused. In 18 child sexual exploitation trials since 1997 – in Derby, Leeds, Blackpool, Blackburn, Rotherham, Sheffield, Rochdale, Oldham and Birmingham – relating to street grooming of girls aged 11 to 16 involving two or more men, most of those convicted were of Pakistani heritage.

Whilst these particular trials dealt with Pakistani perpetrators and white victims, it is both inappropriate and incorrect to extrapolate from it the conclusion that all sexual offences of this type are committed by Pakistani men.  For example, through the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), the government concluded after investigation that of known suspects since 2008:

38% were white

32% recorded as an unknown ethnicity

26% were Asian

3% were African American

less than 1% Chinese

However, as 2.1% of UK population is of Indian or Pakistani origin (2001 census), it is beyond dispute that that group is disproportionately represented.

While detectives and prosecutors in the Rochdale case were at pains to point out that the men had not chosen the girls because of their colour, the judge in question left no room for doubt when he said,

Some of you acted as you did to satiate your lust, some to make money. All of you treated them as they were worthless and beyond all respect. I believe one of the factors that led to that was that they were not of your community or religion.

These trials and subsequent convictions have created an environment in which many and varied views have come to the fore with some being reasonable and some outlandish. They vary from there being a conspiracy of silence amongst the Pakistani community who, it is thought, would and should have known what was going on but chose to remain silent; the police, prosecution service and other child protection agencies being accused of being more concerned with political correctness – in not being seen as racist –  than investigating the matter further; Pakistani men viewing young white girls as “easy meat”; to the leader of the British National Party- an extreme racist party - Nick Griffin using the convictions as evidence of “Muslim paedophilia” whilst campaigning with atrocious slogans such as “our children are not halal meat”.

What is remarkable about the convicted men from Rochdale is the extent to which they were leading a seemingly normal life whilst committing such depraved acts.

Abdul Qayyum, a married father of two, was convicted of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. He first started working as a taxi driver and set up his own business. He was so highly respected by Rochdale’s Pakistani community that two local councillors provided references for him in which they had praised his hard work and how he had fully adapted to the British way of life.

Adil Khan, a married taxi driver, engaged in a sexual relationship with a girl just a few weeks after the birth of his first child. Abdul Rauff, a married Muslin preacher and taxi driver, was convicted of trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. This father of five chose to affirm that he would tell the truth rather than take an oath on the Quran.

The fact that British Pakistanis are represented at all within this type of offence is of great worry; the fact that they are disproportionately represented – 2.1% of population but 26% of offence committed – suggests an underlying cause that is difficult to explain and impossible to ignore.

Did these British Pakistanis set out to ensnare young white girls or was it more about convenience and accessibility?

The answer is not straightforward and one that may be uncomfortable for the British Pakistani community to accept. There is no doubt that a cultural stereotype played a part in the way these men groomed the young girls. They thought these girls were of lower moral value and not worthy of respect.

Equally, this was about exploitation of the vulnerable and weak. Nasir Afzal, the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North West, and the main person responsible for bringing this prosecution, states:

It’s not race that defines (the perpetrators). It’s their attitude to women and young girls that defines them. It’s about men wanting to exert their power over young women.

Most of the victims were from damaged or dysfunctional backgrounds and susceptible to the traps of the groomers who would shower them with affection, attention and gifts. These girls were available in a way Asian teenagers are not – protected by the structure of family at night – and therefore vulnerable to such fiendish attacks.

The challenge for the British Pakistani community is to win the argument that these depraved acts are free of racial connotation and therefore cannot be used to target a single community.  To do so runs the risk of disproportionate attention being paid to one community whilst leaving vulnerable girls open to exploitation by other men.

Read more by Sufiyan here.

Terribly tragic as the event was, Mr Kamran Shafi’s subsequent article on the subject was disturbing and added insult to injury.

Speaking of Pakistan, he wrote,

Close down all the zoos – For we do not deserve the poor things, the animal haters that we are.

It is true that there are some terrible people in our country who exhibit an utter lack of compassion towards animals and even humans. However, to suggest the closure of all zoos is akin to burying one’s head in the sand instead of addressing the real problem at hand.

Generations of responsible animal-loving Pakistanis have enjoyed spending the day with their families at the zoo; this has given many people pleasant, life-long memories. Many children spends hours on end at the zoo, gazing lovingly, and in awe at the animals.

To call all Pakistanis animal haters is gross injustice.

Take for example Dr AA Qureshi, a leading expert on animal behaviour who served as the Zoological Garden’s Director for 30 years; take Rafiq Rajput, the unsung hero from the Sindh Wildlife Department, who died of a snake bite during research; take Hussain Bux Bhagat, who is regarded as the father of the Indus Blind Dolphin due to his efforts.

All three of these men are Pakistani.

Edhi has also created a shelter for stray animals funded by Pakistanis.

Do all Pakistanis sound like animal haters now? What a gross generalisation, Mr Shafi.

Such heroes need to be projected as role models for our youth who support conservation initiatives. Awareness campaigns should be initiated at the school level to foster compassion towards animals. Simultaneously, pressure should be created by the media so that our legislators focus on animal rights for a change, instead of the usual much ado about nothing.

Cruelty towards animals in zoos is not a Pakistan-specific phenomenon and many zoos are shut down for lack of suitable conditions globally every year.

An indoor zoo in Bangkok has been criticised for keeping animals in a dreadful environment, often resulting in the death of these animals. In the US, illegal possession of big cats is not unheard of. In most cases, they are inbred and result in the conditions that Mr Shafi described.

Some such ‘zoos’ have even been closed after accidents, on public safety grounds, if not animal rights.

Dehiwela Zoo in Srilanka, a beautiful place to be at, was Saheli’s first home. Even Dehiwela and the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage – the world’s largest – are criticised by hardcore animal rights activists.

Much of the behaviour exhibited by animals who are caged is cited as ‘mental impairment’. This can actually be just that and not an excuse, as some people make it out to be. Chances are that animals pace up and down in their cages due to their natural instinct to roam about, hunger, playfulness or ‘heat’ – and I’m not talking about the weather!

On a personal note, my beloved dog, despite vaccinations and the best veterinary care available, kept chewing its tail. This resulted in ultimate death. Maybe this was a mental illness it suffered from or it could have been fleas. Some zoos are also infested with fleas – it is the circle of life. But is closing zoos down really the solution?

The point I am trying to make is that problems related to animals don’t occur only in zoos Pakistan; managing zoos and animals is difficult, but instead of just closing them down, shouldn’t we learn how to handle the situation better?

Today’s zoos are much more than the menageries that showcased exotic animals for the amusement of visitors. If properly run, they are centres of education, research and conservation. With wildlife inaccessible to most people, it is often here that love and respect for animals germinates in young minds. By all means, end corruption and malpractice at zoos, but please do not close them down altogether.

Give our youth at least the chance to fall in love with animals. How can you expect the love and respect for animals to flourish if you won’t even give us a chance?

Read more by Adil here.

Perhaps my issue stems from the fact that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had expected; I had very high expectations. Plus, most of you might not agree with me, but this really isn’t the sort of movie that makes a huge impact. It isn’t exactly what you would call ‘motivational’.

Where do I start?

I guess direction is a good place to begin with.

I’m a huge fan of Joss Whedon, and I definitely do admire most of his work to date: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Firefly, Serenity, and Titan AE. All of these represent Whedon’s incredible direction skills. And I could actually see a reflection of him in parts of the movie and it was great.

Character development is a talent that Whedon has mastered, but unfortunately, much as I tried, I didn’t see his skills this time around.

Understandably, the rules are different when directing a movie in comparison to a television series – you have the entire story that needs to be wrapped up within about three hours in a movie, whereas you can build the characters through different episodes in a TV series.

The Hulk, also known as Dr Bruce Banner, is probably one character that went through a major change. Through most of the movie, the Hulk remained a beast – an uncontrollable beast.

And then suddenly when the time came, Bruce Banner miraculously mastered the act of controlling his actions and emotions. This surprised me greatly; when did The Hulk learn to control his actions? How did that happen exactly?

Moving on, we had agent Phil Coulson’s death which represented an episode that somewhat brought together all the heroes, yet his death came without much feeling.

This is not something that every guy would openly admit to, but I’m the sort of person that can get attached to a character really quickly. I get all emotional and teary-eyed during a well done tragic scene and death. Given that Joss Whedon is one of the few directors who does tragedy like no other, somehow this one just fell flat – no lump in the throat, and no tears in the eyes.

Pepper Potts calling Phil by his first name, him carrying Captain America’s vintage cards, etc; perhaps these tidbits were supposed to show us how all of them related to the agent’s death in one way or the other, but I just didn’t feel it.

And then the aliens; Loki spent most of the movie talking about a giant army – his ultimate destruction plan. Imagine my surprise and the anti-climax when the army,  finally coming into play, was easily decimated by the heroes.

Apart from the lazy worm-like ships and aliens continuously flying into buildings, it didn’t seem like they presented much of a threat other than the ones with the guns who were just as easily thwarted.

For an army that was to be the world’s worst problem, it turned out to be quite a joke and thus didn’t have much of an impact.

At least throughout the final battle some humour was employed to make it enjoyable. Scenes such as The Hulk punching Thor in the face after they kicked some villainous backsides, just because he could, Loki being thrown around like a doll after he declares to be a god and not someone that can be thrown around, and others were welcomed by the entire audience.

People are still calling this the most anticipated movie of the year and more.

I believe that this statement is a gross exaggeration – The Dark Knight Rises anyone?

If you like superhero movies, like me, and are into the whole comic scene, then don’t miss this one. But honestly, if you ask me, Chronicle did more for me than The Avengers did. Chronicle was brilliant, had superb character development, and provided an exciting fight between two of its main characters that probably surpassed the fights in The Avengers by far.

Overall the experience was enjoyable. Not excellent, but definitely good.

Follow Salman on Twitter @msalmank

Dr Hoodbhoy is of the view that ghairat (honour) and “fake nationalism” (the one that can be witnessed by our chest-thumping TV anchors and Baloongras on Twitter) was one of the cornerstones of fascist societies like Nazi Germany and that as societies moved from tribalism to modernism and now post-modernism, the notions of “ghairat” are anachronistic and will not do us much good.

Miss Maria Waqar, on the other hand, feels that Nazi Germany was not a tribal society by any means, rather a very modern and “civilised” one. She also mentions that just like we want to blame honour and “tribal values” for the crimes of Nazis, we should blame the notions of “liberty and freedom” for the destruction heaped upon Iraq and Afghanistan by the mighty United States.

In my humble opinion, Dr Hoodbhoy is closer to reality in calling out for a review of what we have gained (mostly we have lost) from this false bravado and where our “honour” lies according to other nations of the world. I would also like to present another facet of this issue that was not discussed.

Ghairat is an Urdu word that usually means honour or pride. But the problem with translation is that every word in a particular language has its own etymology and while translating, the word may lose its original meaning. There is no universal definition of ghairat, it roughly means the sense of belonging or entitlement to certain customs. If a person goes against those customs, he/she is considered to have defiled ghairat. This concept is a key element of a tribal society. In the subcontinent, people generally are quite touchy about their ghairat and can kill someone who defiles it. This usually leads to “honour-killings” and the victims in all cases are women.

Pakistani society, even after the move towards urbanisation in the last 30 years, remains a tribal and patriarchial society. In Pakistan, the honour of a man lies between the legs of women in his family (an Arabic expression). Any attempt to break the shackles of this system can lead to death. Thus, it is not surprising that the Human Rights Commission reported 675 women to have been killed in the name of honour in the the first nine months of 2011 while in 2010, the figure was 791.

It should also be considered that the Human Rights Commission has only accounted those women whose cases were reported and the actual numbers can be much higher than that. It is not clear if this number includes the 577 honour killings during 2011 that took place in the Sindh province alone. A modern democratic state is supposed to safeguard the rights of its citizens (both male and female) and the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2004, which amended sections 299, 302 and 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code, specified the criminalisation of offences “committed in the name or on the pretext of honour” and mentions “karo-kari, siyah kari or similar other customs and practices” in this context.

The question, then, is how many arrests or prosecutions in courts of law have been made. This is where the state’s performance has been extremely poor.

Regarding the other ghairat, namely “qaumi ghairat” or “national honour” I would like to quote Sadiq Saleem, who echoed the exact sentiment that I have on this issue, in a local newspaper three years ago,

Every few years, Pakistanis go through angry phases of self-righteous indignation over the country’s dependence on foreign aid. The ghairat (national honour) lobby, led by Islamist political parties, retired generals and the newly empowered right-wing conspiracy theorists serving as television anchors have worked up the nation once again in the “honour is more important than aid” slogan mongering.

Notwithstanding the evolution of our indigenous defence capabilities, much of our military equipment still comes from the US or from China. Pakistan needs aid and no amount of hyper nationalist chest-thumping can change the fact that with huge and unavoidable defence expenditure, a growing unproductive population and a bloated government we have no option but to seek aid for development

The ghairat lobby, always eager to mobilise street protests of the “Go America Go” variety, never runs a campaign to get the nation to pay taxes. Ditto for the industrialists and traders that support the various factions of the Pakistan Muslim League and the landowners that are incharge of the Pakistan People’s Party. Few Pakistanis know we have a tax-to-GDP ratio of 8%, even below Ghana, which collects 15% of its GDP as revenue.

The debate about this issue  does not end here, and it shouldn’t. Introspection on this issue, both on the “honor killings” aspect and the “qaumi ghairat” aspect should continue until a consensus is developed. We need to make a decision if we want to live in a society where women are supposed to be killed due to our percieved notions or otherwise.

We need to decide if we want to continue chest-thumping over issues that we deem “dishonorable” and ignore reality like an ostrich. The choice is ours to make and the time is running out.

Read more by Majeed here, or follow him on Twitter @abdulmajeedabid