Highlights of the August 2008 issue

In the eye storm of the — at the moment

By Massoud Ansari

Accused of running a private prison, kidnapping and extortion, Mangal Bagh – the self-styled Islamist reformer in Khyber – is a new thorn in the side of the administration

Pakistan’s Frontier region has its own celebrity list which is constantly being updated, according to where the latest military operation is taking place and which ‘Taliban’ is hogging media attention. These days, Mangal Bagh is the latest warlord from there to hit the headlines, both nationally and internationally. Sporting a bushy beard and long hair, Bagh claims that his mission is to purge the society of “evil influence”. “I’m not the ruler of Khyber but the servant of the people,” he has said in a recent radio broadcast in response to being called a warlord.
 

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With A Market As Cruel Nature As The

Mohammad Badar Alam

Small farmers in Pakistan suffer due to state apathy and inefficiency, which is why experts argue that targeted subsidies are needed

 Verdant meadows roll around Malik Arzam as he walks amid the peanut fields in his village in the Tala Gang area of Chakwal district. If rains remain faithful to their traditional pattern in the arid Pothohar region that he belongs to, he is assured of a bumper crop and handsome revenues. “Even the smallest farmer here can earn enough to maintain a decent lifestyle,” he says proudly. With a hint of glee in his voice, he says people from central Punjab will be surprised to see this much prosperity in the north-western part of their province. “They might feel that they are no longer in Pakistan,” he tells the Herald.
 

The Ticking Bomb

By Massoud Ansari

“Educating girls will deviate our generation from the right path. They must be restricted to their homes,” decreed 32-year-old Maulana Fazlullah in one of his infamous broadcasts. He warned his listeners to pull their daughters out from “un-Islamic” schools that promote “obscenity”.

After this call, his followers destroyed 40 girls’ schools in less than a year from July 2007 to May 2008 in Swat Valley. The attacks stopped when Fazlullah struck a ceasefire with the security forces

 
 

Hurdles On The Track

By Zohair Abbasi

An insight into why Pakistan has failed to make a mark in track and field events which have the most number
of medals

In the middle of the field, S. Chaman weaves his way through young children. Almost every day, in fact, he can be found here in the Punjab Football Stadium, giving football lessons to a small group of kids. A stout fellow of an average height, he dresses in a baggy shirt, track pants and wears a warm, courtly smile. From his demeanour it’s hard to fathom that he was once a national high jump champion and an Asian gold medallist. Nevertheless, the 70-year-old is commendably fit.

The golden days of Chaman’s career came in the 1950s and 60s — a time when athletics in Pakistan were at their zenith. Just consider that Pakistan’s Olympics squad for Melbourne 1956, comprising over 50 players in all, had 27 athletes taking part in track and field events. There was no dearth of finances and tours then: athletes trained in Europe and ruled the Asian plains. “Until the 1960s, we were at the top in Asian rankings for athletics. In the 1958 Asian Games we got five gold, seven silver and six bronze medals,” Chaman reminisces.