Phandar.com

DIAT K RAQAM TO DO….

Fida Ali Shah Ghizri — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 04:55:52 +0000

As Good As it Gets

Karim shah — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:49:50 +0000

For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
Are you “postponing” happiness for the future, thinking that once you deal with certain problems or settle lingering issues everything will be smooth sailing? While our lives can always be improved and steps can be taken to overcome our trials, to be truly content we have to accept a simple fact: life will never be a piece of cake. Tough times are part of the human experience, but this doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate the GOOD things in our lives. Even if, for example, we might be facing stormy times in a relationship or financial struggles, we are still able to enjoy a laugh with a friend, chocolate ice cream or a walk through the park. The good things don’t go anywhere, but our focus on the negative makes their real value fade. Remind yourself that your life is NOW and that there will always be bumps along the way – but there will also be plenty of reasons to smile.

Originally published on www.queendom.com

A Change is always a Source of Hope

Karim shah — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 05:52:30 +0000

Nawaz Kahn Naji

‘Drowning man clings tightly to even little help’ is a very very famous proverb and our current political system is not different than a drowning man and at such time a change is like a little help for that man.

Recently by-election was held for the vacant seat of Ghizer district when the 35 year winning candidate of PPP ,Pir Karam Ali Shah, was elected as governor of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Pir Karan Ali Shah had been winning the seat for the last three and half decades and Nawaz Khan Naji, the prominent leader of BNF was contesting against him as long as he kept winning.
This time the hope was high for his win as the ‘winner’ was no more in the contest but there were some strong oppositions for him both from PPP and PML-N.

Through unofficial result Nawaz Khan NAji has won the election with large margin. I don’t know much about him if he is a good leader or not or will he keep up his words or will deviate just like other ‘leaders’ but I do know one thing that he is a man of courage because he does believe in the fact that real failure is when one falls and remains there. He has fallen many times and stood up with even greater energy and commitment.
The second positive dimension I see, if he really wins, is that the people will have the change in leadership after a long time and if he fails to upheld his words then they will be satisfied with Edison’s theory of discovering one more way that didn’t work.
So lets welcome a new leadership of BNF and see if they can implement what they have been shouting for the last 5 to 6 decades.The people of GB and in particular Ghizer really need a little help to cling to in the form of change in leadership.

Police open investigations into wall chalking in Skardu

Karim shah — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 04:27:24 +0000

Police has expanded its investigations into who is responsible for walking chalking against a particular sect in Skardu, officials said on Sunday.

The wall chalking had sparked widespread protests in the town. All business activities came to a halt in Skardu on Saturday after hundreds of
people took to the streets in protest as some unidentified people painted walls with slogans against a sect. Reacting to the wall chalking, clerics demanded the arrest of the plotters.

“Initially we had arrested four suspects but released them today after investigation,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Gilgit-Baltistan
Chief Minister Mehdi Shah, who belongs to Skardu, told reporters that the culprits will be nabbed.

Last week, hundreds of people had staged a sit-in in the town to protest against ‘derogatory statements’ against religious leaders of a sect by members of another sect. The matter had hardly cooled down when the chalking appeared.
Originally posted in The express tribune on 11th April 2011

[KAMIYABI K RAAZ] Featuring Wazeer Baig Speaker Gilgit Baltistan

Fida Ali Shah Ghizri — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:39:31 +0000

Wazeer Baig Speaker Gilgit Baltistan

A Chitrali girl’s encounter with destiny

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:14:37 +0000

Small town girl cooks up a storm with her culinary expertise. PHOTO: THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE

It’s not easy being a woman and working in the male-weighted hospitality industry of Pakistan. But Rubina Qadeem Khan, who inherited all the disadvantages of belonging to a poor family in a remote village of Chitral is doing just that. Talking to Express Tribune, she said she considered herself as an ambassador of women in this highly competitive modern profession.

She said she was inducted into this profession by her sister who was working in a hotel. Rubina had just finished high school and it was an opening she could not refuse. The hotel kitchen fascinated her. She thought that as a woman, it was her place. Men had no business to be there but women had been too shy to step out; it was all their fault. Setting her heart on this goal, she graduated and got a diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management.

“Except for my father, all other members of my family opposed the idea. They thought I would not be able to give time to my studies. My mother was not happy with my decision at all. She did not consider my job good for me. She used to cry when I got home with hands singed from handling hot pots. But my father, who worked in the government and who I used to help in the kitchen, as he also ran a small food stall as a part time job, thought differently. He said, “Never mind the burns: Rubina is learning to make new dishes every day. I cannot forget the bitter cold in which I used to work with my father but that tough training with my father made me so determined that today I am a scholar of Culinary Arts at a University in the United States,” Rubina said glowing with understandable sense of achievement.

“We lived in a small village strung along the valleys where the life and economy was based on subsistence farming. The idea of going out of my small village was novel and thrilling. I was very adventurous. Hiking, climbing and camping was my passion. I am also very determined and once I take a decision I don’t step back. When I came to know about COTHM, I applied for a student loan from my community and a scholarship from the college which I got. At that time I could only afford to have one meal a day and few hours to rest with my full time study and full time job, but I knew this would pass. When the USEFP announced scholarships in 2007, I was working in Lahore and had completed my certification. I applied for the scholarship and was one of the 11 people who got it from among hundreds of applicants. In the US I was enrolled on the President’s honored list. Now when someone asks my mother about my work she proudly says her daughter is a chef, and it makes me smile.”

“My work demands mental and physical strength. It’s not about cooking for a small family. It’s about thousands of hotel guests. If you are not strong enough to work then you won’t stay on your job for long. Men outnumber you in the kitchen. I was the only girl in food production area among an all male staff. So I used to be very quiet and observant. Everyone was good to me. But then things started changing when I reached the senior level. I was faced with jealousy of the males. But I have learned to survive; it is a great experience.”

“The hospitality industry demands the readiness to accept change and diversity. I would say it is a challenge for young women to be taken seriously. Women need to project a great deal more confidence than their equal male counterpart to be noticed as an authority. Once her head is held high and her eye contact is direct, there is no stopping a woman. In the great hospitality industry we do best because women are naturally care takers and warm humans. Hospitality is about relationships and women are naturals in this area!”

“For me, there is still a long way ahead. It’s important to take decisions for your own self, think what you really want to do- look at its pros and cons. Don’t let society decide for you,” Rubina said philosophically. “At the end of the day it’s your life. So you should be the one to decide. I am fortunate that my parents always preferred their children’s education and career over social pressures and taboos. And this has really helped me to focus on my profession. I wish every girl is given that chance,” Rubina said. She looked a picture of satisfaction.”

Rubina explained that hospitality was a multibillion dollar industry that had a potential to absorb women in different departments such as housekeeping, beauty salon, massage centers, guest relations and the kitchen etc. The media can attract women to this profession by projecting it in a positive manner.

The writer works for International Labour Organisation (ILO). This story is a part of an ILO-The Express Tribune project: Promoting Gender Equality for Decent Employment (GE4DE).

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2011.

By Rabia Razzaque

Published: March 31, 2011

G-B institutes first-ever blasphemy case

admin — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:53:36 +0000

GILGIT: Gilgit-Baltistan joined the league of the country’s other self-righteous areas after the region’s first-ever blasphemy case was registered against a man who allegedly passed “contemptuous comments against the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh)”.

“A case has been registered under the blasphemy law against Yaqoob, son of Taifur Shah,” Sultan Azam, the superintendent police [SP] told reporters outside the city police station where hundreds of protesters blocked the main road, calling for punishing the alleged accused.

Without being specific, a police official said that the man was not a Christian. Abdur Rauf, a resident of Kondas in Gilgit, had submitted an application with the city police station in the evening saying he was a witness to the crime.

Yaqoob is said to be a resident of Ghizer Valley, which is about 75 kilometres from Gilgit.

SP Azam said that the man had been arrested and police had started an investigation into the case. The incident was reported at about 5.30 pm in Kondodas and the news spread like wildfire.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the police station, calling for the man’s immediate arrest. As the crowd grew larger, shopkeepers closed their shops in anticipation of violence. The crowd, however, dispersed peacefully after police registered a case under the sections 295, 296, 298, 500, 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code (blasphemy law).

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2011.

Awareneness for a Noble Cause is Noble Deed in Itself| Well-Done CSWA and CHEPS

Karim shah — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:21:53 +0000

The environment and youth are the two important assets of a nation and these are the hope for bright future only if they are protected and grown up well.

CSWA & CHEPS Walk for the Envoronment

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The recent Joint Venture of Chitral Student Welfare Association (CSWA) and Chitral Heritage and Environment Protection Society (CHEPS) with the motto of ‘Save Environment Peace walk’ under the active leadership of Mr Rehmat was an effort for creating awareness among the youth about the protection of environment. This was indeed an effort for a noble cause which was very successful because of the motivational leadership of the societies and active participation of the youth. All of them deserve our deep appreciation.
Mr Rehmat started his peace walk from Peshawar and completed it arranging successive walks in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. In each city the volunteers of CSWA and CHEPS actively participated in the walk and made it a success. These kind of activities need tremendous amount of courage, time and resources and we salute all theparticipants and the leaders for doing such a notable service.
These efforts of CSWA and CHEPS should be used as a model. Our youth is very active and they only need the proper platform and active leadership like Mr Rehmat who can motivate them.

Walk for The Environment

These kind of activities have two fold advantages. First they serve to create awareness about the importance of our responsibilities to the society and to the environment. Secondly they provide a source of healthy activity for the youth which is needed desperately.

The root cause of many social problems in our society is the lack of such healthy activities. CSWA and CHEPS have fulfilled their due responsibilities by arranging this walk even though they know it well that it is beyond their mission as it is clearly stated that the core aim of CSWA is the educational awareness and to help for the students. Perhaps they achieved this goal very well and now they acted upon the fact that learning stops the day one said I am done. They have found their new areas to explore and I am sure soon they will fulfill this and will take even higher responsibilities and I wish them all the best for their efforts.
CSWA and CHEPS have set the best footstep other NGO s and civil Scotty should follow.
Watch the video to know more about what this walk was aimed for

What the Walk is for?

and also have a look on the Photos which speak for themselves how the youth and specially the students from Chitral living in different cities made it a success by their active participation.Thumbs up for the youth of Chitral!!

Khowar poet’s book launched

admin — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:42:07 +0000

CHITRAL, Jan 8: Women in Chitral are emerging to get a better place in the society and all this positive change is due greater opportunities of education, said speakers at a book-launching ceremony here on Saturday.

The book titled ‘Zhoor Nama’ (in the name of daughters) is the collection of poems written by eminent educationist and Khowar poet Sher Wali Khan Aseer.

The speakers said that the poet had accurately depicted the picture of womenfolk with special reference to problems they had been facing to get a better place in the society. They said that the high enrolment of girls in primary schools showed that future of Chitrali women was very bright.

They said that Mr Aseer had set a direction for Chitrali daughters by explaining what attributes they must develop to be acceptable to the larger section of society.
“The book sets a path for the womenfolk for their social, economic and political emancipation while remaining within the defined boundaries in the society,”

Original Source

What if we respect the diversity ?

mustafakamal — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:34:07 +0000

The recent statements of both the leaders of Shia and Sunni sects are a sign of fresh breeze for the inhabitants of this suffocated environ. Both have stressed to follow each others in their religious faiths and practices. Agha Rahat has offered to follow one Imam in prayers, to which Qazi Nisar has answered to recite one Azan for both the sect. But how these recommendations are viable needs thinking.

Certainly the relations are tense. But it is the nature of all sorts of relations. It does not mean we cannot fix them.

The small town of Gilgit represents a grotesque picture; having check posts everywhere around the city. High deployment of military, rangers, Gilgit scouts and police makes it hard to believe that it is the same town we were living in a few years back.
There is a concern; a fear — perhaps an unknown one. Concerns. Concerns that that unsettle and hurt every inhabitant of Gilgit Baltistan. Our history was not of this sort. Renowned historian Ahmad Hassan Dani’s history of Gilgit shows that we never had a sectarian issue in the region. For example, the most faithful chieftains for central Gilgit’s Shia ruler used to be from Chilas, a Sunni dominated region, not Shias. The Chilasis were a savior of central Gilgit many times. Moreover, the history also reveals to us that the internal conflicts among various rulers of Gilgit Baltistan were never of sectarian nature.
The 11 years dictatorship of Gen Zia sowed the seeds of hatred on sectarian lines in the region that turned out to be more intensified after the assassination of Shia alim Syed Rizvi in 2005.

Offering prayers behind one Imam or having one Aazan for all sects seem not possible at the moment, to which the people will not agree who have been practicing there separate and unique believes for past 1400 years.

The solution lies not in the unification of these diverse practices, rather to respect these. Struggle should be to accept various beliefs in their own perspective and historic contexts instead of creating a hollow unified society.

Let’s have people and society with various faiths and practices. It is a healthy sign for any society having diverse thoughts and beliefs. What we need to do is to respect other’s beliefs as equal as one’s own beliefs. This is the only thing to realize. Once society knows the importance of accepting other thoughts, it will not be looking for merging them together. Our religious leaders must look for ideas to co-opt with one another like pluralistic societies. Accepting others’ thoughts, beliefs and practices is much easier than merging them.

For past many years, Muslim sects have been tolerating each other. This toleration has not produced sufficient results. They now must accept each others wholly instead of tolerating one another.
Peace can flourish only by acceptance, not by toleration. Toleration has boundaries but acceptance has no boundary. This is the lesson the inhabitants of Gilgit Baltistan and their religious leaders need to ponder over.