When Lawyers Attacked a Hospital in Lahore

Image courtesy of Keattikorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Just about a week ago, lawyers attacked a hospital in Lahore, ransacked it, beat the staff that is paramedics and doctors, which resulted in the death of three patients. Sometime back I wrote a post on the Sahiwal incident an incident which shook the country to its foundations and then suddenly nothing happened and the news was buried under rubble. I came to know of this hooliganism through Facebook in the evening the same day. The first thoughts were those of shock and disbelief, as the news set in I browsed the various channels looking for more information. Soon enough exasperation set in, this was followed by a bout of hopelessness, grief and finally regret. I searched on the Internet looking for parallels to this sad and deplorable incident but thankfully found none. For where else do men and women of law take the law in to their hands? Where else do lawyers act like hooligans? Where else is life of a helpless patient who seeks a hospital’s help to address their ill health is lost due to absence or non provision of proper care since the very staff that was required to address their woes had to flee because they were under attack? In a Cardiology hospital? Where all patients are fighting for life and some on their last breaths?

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My thoughts on the “Sahiwal Incident” and its aftermath

Last week, an anti terrorism court set free all six persons accused in the Sahiwal incident, an incident that shook Pakistan few months ago. Just to reiterate, few months ago,  four persons were shot dead near Sahiwal while they were traveling in their car along with kids. The killings, as stated by the Counter Terrorism Department was an operation against terrorists involved in the kidnapping of ex Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gillani’s son and an American national. The supposedly terrorists were traveling with their family, that is wife and kids when they were shot and killed. In fact one of the teenage daughters of the family also got killed. Two kids somehow escaped the mayhem.

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A Kashmiri woman speaks about post article370 annulment in India

Today, I am beginning a new category in my blog, it will be called as “Jagged corners”. “Jagged corners” will look at things as they are and not as they appear. I am very happy to tell you that a Kashmiri woman, well actually Indian American who belongs to Kashmir has very kindly agreed to get herself interviewed for my blog. I am in deed very grateful to her. In order to protect her privacy I will call her, “Maryum”. There has been a lot of fervour around the world, specially in Indian held Kashmir, and Pakistan off course after the Modi Governemnet decided to annul the article 370 of the constitution thus depriving the Indian held Kashmir of its special status. A status which was given to the Kashmiri people after partition through mutual consent. The status was given till the time the matter was to be resolved according to the auspices of the UN, by holding a plebiscite for the people to Kashmir, in order to decide their fate. The very status was given to preserve the demography of the area, as 80% of the population is Muslims and a mere 20 % Hindu. Too bad the UN till now has shied from its role and no plebiscite has been held there. The two countries India and Pakistan have fought three wars for this very issues, and daily skirmishes are not uncommon. And if anything the annulment of this article 370 is aimed at changing the demography of this very area. Something which will be detrimental to the cause of Kashmir. Read on for an insight in to what the abrogation of this article means to the Kashmiris. This article is written at a time when there’s complete telecom blackout in the Indian held Kashmir.

Continue reading A Kashmiri woman speaks about post article370 annulment in India