Why is Trump favoring Pakistan and penalizing India?

Indians are in a state of shock. US President Donald Trump has made it clear that he doesn't like India and has imposed a 25 percent tariff on Indian exports to the US. Not only that, he has penalized India for buying Russian oil despite a ban. He has also described the Indian economy as "dead".

Indians must be wondering what happened. Modi has spent the past ten years trying to get Pakistan declared a terrorist state. The Indian cricket team has been prevented from playing matches with Pakistan. Last April, Modi got a terrorist attack staged in which thirty two Indians were slain, just to provide him with an excuse to bomb some so-called "terrorist havens" in Pakistan. That attempt ended with six or seven Indian Rafael fighter jets being shot down. After that, Pakistan has been viewed by the international community as a more reliable and trusted country compared to India.

Modi and his cronies of course refuse to admit that India was beaten. But opposition politicians are baying for his blood, one of them even asking him to prove that the thirty six Rafael fighter jets India bought are still there. I doubt if he'll remain in power for long, despite his attempts to disenfranchise Muslims (who have traditionally voted against his party).

I believe that Trump has now realized that India is not the superpower it has pretended to be. He's against Apple setting up a factory in India. Perhaps he knows that India is useless at containing China. He may have realized that it's better to be friends with China. Whatever the reason, India is the loser. It will have to bend backwards to appease Trump, like buying at least a hundred F-35s for instance, for which it will have to spend billions of dollars. The Indian economy will be "dead" and the common Indian will suffer.

 

More honor killings

After the horrific murder of a man and woman in Baluchistan, a spate of honor killings has erupted in the country. It's like a contagious disease like polio, spreading from one person to another. First, there was a divorced woman in Sukkur who was killed because she refused to marry either of two men who had been pestering her. Then, a nineteen-year old girl in Rawalpindi was killed after being sentenced to death by a jirga (a tribal court). The shameless man who ordered her to be killed also performed her namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayer). Her crime? She had been absent from her home for a week or so. It was believed that she went to her boyfriend's house but apparently he backed out of his promise to marry her.

The latest is that of a couple from a village in Gujranwalla who eloped and escaped to Karachi. Just a week before their murder, the man changed his religion from Christianity to Islam. Despite that, the girl's brother is reported to have killed the couple. I can't understand how he was able to locate the couple so soon after their marriage.

I'm convinced that the most unfortunate people in the world are Pakistani women (particularly those who live in rural areas or who belong to illiterate families). In the countryside, their bodies belong to the local feudal lord, who can rape them himself or ask his cronies to do so. He can even order them to marry the person he has selected for them. Even in illiterate families in the cities, girls are married off a couple of years after puberty. Their parents do not let them study after the age of twelve (assuming they're put in schools at all). They have to agree to marry their cousins (who may be junkies or street criminals). And after marriage they have to bear at least seven or more children (because that is what their husband want). And I doubt if this situation will change in the next five decades, if ever. 

It appears that Pakistan will always have polio

Already seventeen cases of polio have been recorded in the country. It's not only the illiterate parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated against the dreaded disease. About forty years back I asked an engineer if he had got his first child vaccinated. He laughed. "It's all a scam to make vaccine manufacturers rich", he said. This is what many Americans believe as well, and some of them are suffering from the after-effects of Covid. 

In Pakistan, however, the problem is compounded by clerics and some influential people. Many years ago, there was a mullah who used the FM radio channels to brainwash housewives into believing that vaccination causes male children to be impotent, and female children to be infertile. "This is one way of reducing our population devised by the evil Westerners", he used to say. No wonder many polio women workers have been killed in the northern areas of the country, and in those districts where Pathans live.

So I doubt if this and successive governments will ever eradicate polio in country. They should give up trying and the money saved can be used for treating people suffering from cancer or other diseases.

                   

Why so many "honor" killings among the Baloch?

Most of the rural areas in Pakistan are still controlled by tribal chieftains who have their own interpretation of Islam. Some of them believe that a woman talking to a male stranger (or even a distant male relative) is guilty of adultery. A woman refusing to marry the man selected by her father or brothers or marrying a man of her choice is killed immediately.

A few days back a woman and her husband were killed for doing so. Both had been married, she may have been a widow, and she already had children. The couple were told that they had been forgiven and were invited to come back to their village, but of course they should have known they were doomed. I'll never forget what the woman said to the man (her brother) who was about to kill her, "You are allowed only to shoot me", perhaps she feared being stoned to death. It was shocking to hear her mother proclaim publicly that her daughter deserved to be killed. Apparently these women have so many children that they don't regret losing one or two.

As a contractor I used to come in contact with Baloch men frequently. One of my workers once told me, "We're not cowards like you city folk, if our wives even hint at wanting a divorce, we shoot them". When I received a wedding invitation card from a Baloch contractor which didn't mention the name of the bride and asked the reason, I was told, "If a male stranger gets to know the name of my daughter, I can only assume that she's been intimate with him, so I have to kill her". Perhaps this is the reason why even some Memons nowadays don't print the names of their brides on wedding cards, they print "daughter of so and so". 

Building collapse

Published in DAWN on July 24, 2025

BUILDING COLLAPSE: This is with reference to the editorial ‘Building collapse’ (July 5). I do not understand why some people often blame the Sindh government for such tragedies. It has done a ‘good job’ by taking necessary steps to prevent such incidents in future.

For instance, it renamed the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) as the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA). What else a government can do? Anyone can now violate building codes, and construct 15 floors above the permitted 10. This will allow at least some people to earn billions of rupees and send the money into foreign bank accounts. We should all stop blaming the seriously efficient Sindh government.

 

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

 

https://www.dawn.com/news/1926239/building-collapse

Let them remain on strike

Published in Jang on May 28, 2005

This may sound incredible, but the performance of the PTCL actually improved during the recent strike by its employees. Telephones which had been dead for several days suddenly started working, crosstalk which makes life intolerable for telephone users was non-existent, and one could get through to any number on the first attempt.

It would be a good idea for PTCL employees to go on strike for a whole year. Better still, why not sack all of them and save a substantial amount of money?

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi

My Friend "M"

Published in 1960 in St. Pat's Calling (School Newspaper)

"Have you met my friend "M"? "No"? "Well here you can know a lot about him   -- if you care to." 

A Professor of Science will describe 'M' as a combination of mischievious bones and muscles. The book-readers describe him as a mixture of William Brown -- surely you have read of him -- and Ukridge of Wodehouse's books; which is not surprising since "M" considers both of them his heroes. 

On the day I met him "M" gave me a lecture on Friendship. "To test a new friend", he said, "you should ask him to lend you some money". Then, looking straight into my eyes, he said, "Can you lend me two annas?". Remembering what he had just said, I gave him two annas -- my bus money --- thinking he would return it immediately. But the cunning old devil did nothing of the kind. He just said "Thanks", and returned to his lecture. 

The next day he came to me and asked "Got two annas"?

"No!" I replied firmly. 

"Oh!" he said, disappointed. Then struck with a brainwave, he said "I know, what you can do . You can borrow it from a friend and give it to me".

"I never borrow money" I replied.

"Just do it today. I didn't have any breakfast today and my stomach is empty".

"Why didn't you have breakfast?" I asked. 

"I did  not get up before seven and my father -- he is very strict about discipline -- did not let me have it". 

"How good of your father! Tell me, where do you live? I'd like to meet him", I said. 

But "M" had guessed what I would tell his father when I met him, so he said "I'll tell you after you give me the money". Although I had the two annas, I borrowed them so that "M" would forget to ask me to lend him money.  But he did not give me his address. He thanked me for the two annas and said "Excuse me" and ran away to spend the money. Later I learnt that he had borrowed money from everyone in the class. If you have heard of Ukridge, you will remember that he too borrowed money from his friends, who never had hopes of ever seeing their money being returned. 

In his first month at school, "M" never got into trouble with the masters. But for the rest of the year, he was always seen in the Penance Study class and even near the Principal's door. 

His first trouble was with the English master. "John Keats was a very good poet" he was saying when his gaze fell upon "M". He roared, "M, you will please pay attention like a gentleman!" But "M" did nothing of the kind. Perhaps he did not consider himself a gentleman. Moreover he was not interested in Keats. He had an idea that Keats was a man who collected stamps. The result was a day's Penance Study. 

In the Science Laboratory he did the Urdu homework. When made to kneel down he was engrossed in doing something else. The Science Master, who liked the name Darwin, was giving a lecture on Darwin. "M" was not interested in Darwin. He had a vague recollection that Darwin had something to do with monkeys. He made little paper balls and threw them at everyone. When he was discovered, he had another day's Penance Study to his credit. In this way, he rose to the rank of "Chief Troublemaker" in the Matric class.

But he was jovial. While talking to him, one had the impression that "M" had a clear conscience -- you know, he was good, honest, polite and what not. The other day he was telling us what had happened when his father had discovered that he was a frequent visitor to the cinema halls.

"He came home in a bad temper", said "M" "and the first thing he did was to call me to his room. I went knowing what was going to happen. 

"Which picture did you see today?" he asked. "Me!" I jumped as if I had received an electric shock -- as a matter of fact I did receive it. My right hand had strayed to the radio wire. I told him everything and the worst was that I had received my report just that day -- full of red lines! My pocket money was stopped for a week" , said "M", ending his story.

What do you think of "M"? He is, I think the life and soul of the tenth. He never does his homework at home and manages to escape. He always spends his bus money and somehow reaches home. He never does P.T. because he always comes late. Surely a fellow like that must possess an extraordinary brain, although most of the masters declare that he has no brain!

Shakir Lakhani

X-'B',

Observance of "iddat" by widows

Iddat is the mandatory waiting period to be observed by widows or divorced Muslim women. The main reason for it is that by the end of four months and ten days, it is evident that the woman is not pregnant, and so she can then marry again. But over the years, some so-called experts have made it intolerable for women to observe the iddat.

Even though the original reason for iddat was to disallow the widow from marrying, she is now forbidden to talk to men who are not closely related to her (like her brothers, nephews, etc), those called "non-mehrams", men whom she can marry. Some fundamentalists have said it's a sin for her to talk to even her sister's husband or her son-in-law. 

What I don't understand is that even if she is past the child-bearing age, she's forced to remain single and confine herself indoors. In this day and age, a simple blood test can determine if a woman is pregnant or not, so why should even a young widow have to undergo the torture? 

 Imam Bukhari relates the story of a woman whose husband was killed in a battle just two days before she gave birth. After forty days, she announced that she was ready to marry. Immediately there was an uproar from her relatives, so she travelled to Madina to ask the Holy Prophet whether she could marry or wait for four months and ten days. "There is no need for you to observe iddat", she was told. This also proves that a woman could travel during the iddat period, but our "experts" prefer to have her locked up.    

A senseless death

He was a typical Memon, having obtained a useless degree, as he never expected to work for someone else. He had everything anyone would want. Having inherited a lucrative business (a medium-sized factory), he was always self-employed. He hadn't read a book after graduation, so there wasn't much you could talk to him about. If he had been well-read, he'd have known that he was at great risk of falling a victim to diabetes. But being a typical Memon, he simply ignored any warnings he may have had from relatives.

Around the age of 60, he started attending the nearby mosque regularly, where he was told that he had to prepare for the afterlife by first growing a long beard and praying eight times a day (instead of the mandatory five). He also heard many times that he was entitled to four wives who would care for him and attend to his every need in this life and also in heaven (provided he wasn't martyred, in which he case he would be given 72 doe-eyed virgins). Having collected too much money, he put it in a bank where he fell for the young woman who managed his account. He started loading her with gifts, but didn't get what he wanted. She must definitely have guessed what he wanted, and even if he asked her to marry him, she couldn't imagine spending the rest of her life with a man old enough to be her father (and who looked like her grandfather). But he went on giving her expensive gifts, to the intense annoyance of his wife and children.

About five years back, he suddenly gave up taking medication for his diabetes, and started consuming Zam Zam water (from Saudi Arabia). His doctor told him not to be foolish, but he said something about miracles happening if you have faith. He resumed taking medications when Zam Zam didn't help, but many times after that he would again revert to it. What happened should have been expected. After a couple of small strokes, he fell victim to a big one, and was bed ridden for a year (during which he couldn't talk or move). Finally, after a whole year of torture, he expired, just five days after he turned 80. I hope he's finally found the peace that eluded him in his life.

Suspicious death of Humaira Asghar Ali

If there is one thing most Pakistanis are concerned about, it's a woman who lives alone, particularly if she's a working woman. Thirty two year old Humaira Asghar Ali from Lahore had been living in Karachi since 2018. It's not known why she chose to work in Karachi. Perhaps she offended her family members by refusing to marry the man they had selected for her, or maybe she didn't want to marry at all. She wasn't as well-known as other TV actresses or models, and it seems she wasn't earning enough to live the kind of life she wanted. 

She was found dead in her apartment in a posh locality (DHA) earlier this week. The shocking thing is that she had been dead for over eight months, yet her neighbors didn't know it. This is something I can't understand. In every building there are boys who keep track of all young, single females in their neighborhood. The grocery store owner, the milk suppliers, and others, all of them did not wonder where she had gone. She must've been close to at least a couple of people, yet even they did not know that she had disappeared without a trace. As for the chemical examination of the body, the authorities say they cannot determine how she died. Don't they know that it's possible to find the cause of death in cases where death occurred many years ago?

My personal opinion is that she either killed herself or was murdered by someone she knew well. But as I said, if she did have visitors, her neighbors and security guards would have known. Another question: a dead body is supposed to stink badly after a couple of days, so why didn't her immediate neighbors notice the smell?