Monday, December 28, 2015

E-Commerce: Cow Dung Sales Hot on Amazon and eBay in India

Cow patties -- cow poop mixed with hay and dried in the sun, made mainly by Indian women in rural area -- are among the hottest selling items by online retailers including Amazon and eBay in India, according to media reports. Some retailers are offering discounts for large orders and offering free gift wrapping.


Cow dung has a special spiritual significance in Hindu religion. The cows in India do not eat non-vegetarian items and only eat grass or grains which makes cow dung holy and acceptable. In a lot of pujas (worship rituals), both dried and fresh cow dung is used.  From Govardhan Puja to havans, cow dung is used during pujas.

In many spiritual "yagnas", the fire is lit using dried cow dung and desi ghee (clarified butter). It is believed that burning cow dung with ghee is one of the best ways to purify the home, according to BoldSky.com.

In addition, cow dung is the most widely used fuel in India for heating and cooking in rural areas. However, the online orders are coming mostly from cities where it would be difficult to buy dung cakes. The cakes are sold in packages that contain two to eight pieces weighing 200 grams (7 ounces) each. Prices range from 100 to 400 rupees ($1.50 to $6) per package.

Hindus do not eat beef but cow urine  and cow dung are considered sacred.  Urine is believed to be beneficial by Hindus as both a beverage and used for purification of buildings. American newspaper USA Today published a story earlier this year about a urine bottling plant in Haridwar, India. A recent Times of India report said cow urine was used by a group of Hindu activists for cleaning some government buildings.

Online sales of cow dung offer a uniquely Indian blend of ancient Hindu culture and modern information technology being embraced in the country.  Rise of Hindu Nationalists to power under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given renewed impetus to total Hinduization of India.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Coffe, Tea or Pee?

Hinduization of India

Brievik's Hindutva Rhetoric

Indian Textbooks

India's RAW's Successes in Pakistan


Sunday, December 27, 2015

Pakistan VIP Culture's Young Victim; Trump's Muslim Ban; PTI's Lodhran Win; Rangers' Powers

Why did a 10-month old have to die for PPP co-chairman Bilawal Bhutto? Who's to blame for the excesses of Pakistan's VIP culture? Is the entire nation responsible for cheapening of lives in the country?


What explains the US Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump's increasing lead in polls? Is it his bigotry against minorities and Muslims? Is it anger against the established politicians among the Republican base? What is the demographics of Trump's supporters? Is it middle-aged non-college educated whites unhappy with their declining fortunes in society as Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton says?

How did PTI's Jahangir Tareen pull off a big win in Lodhran after PTI's losses in local elections? What explains it? Is it a boost for PTI in Punjab?

Is the Sindh government justified in limiting the powers of Pakistan Rangers in the fight against terror in Karachi? Are there parallels between this situation and the history of the United State where the federal government has repeatedly intervened in US states violating the fundamental rights of the people?

Viewpoint From Overseas host Faraz Darvesh discusses these questions with panelists Misbah Azam and Riaz Haq (www.riazhaq.com).

https://vimeo.com/150060544

Pakistan VIP Culture's Young Victim; Trump's Muslim Ban; PTI's Lodhran Win from WBT Productions on Vimeo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khBuOiCt9VQ




http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3jp0z6_pakistan-vip-culture-s-young-victim-trump-s-muslim-ban-pti-s-lodhran-win_news


Pakistan VIP Culture's Young Victim; Trump's... by ViewpointFromOverseas

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Potential Impact of Trump's Muslim Ban on Pakistanis

Bilawal: Feudal Prince of Pakistan

Rangers vs PPP in Karachi 

Talk4Pak Think Tank

VPOS Youtube Channel

VPOS Vimeo Channel

Friday, December 25, 2015

Pakistan Ranked Among World's Top 5 Nations For Promoting Financial Inclusion

When people in need of money go to unscrupulous and unregulated moneylenders, they usually get trapped in mounting debts at exorbitant interest rates. In developing nations like India and Pakistan, many end up losing their basic freedom and human dignity when they are forced to work as bonded laborers. How can this situation be changed?

The first obvious answer is to enforce laws and rules against the use of bonded labor. The second, often ignored, answer is to enable people to legitimately borrow the money they need from regulated financial institutions like banks.  In addition, they can also save and invest money as bank customers. This is called financial inclusion.

The Economist magazine publishes an annual Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) assessment and ranking of countries for their policies to promote financial inclusion. In 2015, the EIU has ranked Pakistan 5th in the world among 55 countries surveyed for financial inclusion. Peru (90 points) and Colombia (86) remained the top two countries for financial inclusion. The Philippines was followed by India (71) and Pakistan (64), while Chile and Tanzania (62) tied at sixth and Bolivia and Mexico (60) tied at eighth. Ghana (58) rose in the ranks to clinch the 10th place. Finishing at the bottom of the rankings were Haiti, Congo, and Madagascar.

Pakistan had 41.7 million bank accounts last year for its adult population of about 100 million, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). More than 31.3 million accounts, or 75% of all bank accounts, belonged to the personal accounts category. The SBP has recently modified the regulatory framework to quicken the bank account-opening process with the help of the national database authority, according to Pakistan's Express Tribune newspaper. “NADRA is the real-time online depository of the biometric impressions of close to 100 million people,” Tameer Microfinance Bank CEO Nadeem Hussain said, adding that utilizing its database had so far resulted in eight million one-minute accounts.

According to a new CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), accumulated research confirms that financial inclusion, defined as access to and use of formal financial services, benefits the poor people. Some 20 randomized control trials (RCTs) indicate that formal financial services, such as microcredit, savings, insurance and mobile payments, can have a positive impact on a variety of microeconomic indicators, including self-employment business activities, household consumption, and well-being. “But benefits are not limited to the microeconomic level,” notes co-author Robert Cull, Lead Economist, Finance and Private Sector Development Research Group at the World Bank. “In addition to benefits to individuals, non-experimental evidence indicates that broader financial inclusion also coincides with greater local economic activity and decreased economic inequality at the macroeconomic level.”

Inability to have a bank account in modern economy causes financial exclusion of such individuals who happen to be poor. Improving their financial inclusion is essential to make them participants in the nation's economy. The State Bank's efforts to promote financial inclusion are part of Pakistan's war on poverty that needs to continue until all citizens have full access to financial services in the country. The high and growing penetration rate of mobile phones offers the fastest way to do this by offering branchless mobile banking to everyone with a cell phone.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistan Economy Near Trillion Dollar Mark

Pakistan 2.0: Technology Driving Productivity

Branchless Mobile Banking Takes Off in Pakistan

Financial Services Sector in Pakistan

Pakistan Ranks High in Microfinance

Pakistan Deploying Mobile Apps to Improve Governance

Pakistan Mobile Broadband Faster Than India's

Pakistan's Media and Telecom Revolution

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Quaid-e-Azam M.A. Jinnah Drew Inspiration From Prophet Mohammad's Life

An ongoing debate about the true vision of Pakistan's founder flares up every year around Quaid-e-Azam's Birthday that coincides this year with Eid Milad-un-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).  This debate is centered on one key question: Did the Quaid want an Islamic state or a secular state or a pluralistic democratic one?

Islamic or Secular Pakistan?

Here are a couple of excerpts from Quaid-e-Azam's speeches given at different times which are often cited in this "Islamic vs Secular Pakistan" debate:

"You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State"

“Who am I to give you a constitution? The prophet of Islam had given us a constitution 1,300 years ago. We have to simply follow and implement it, and based on it we have to establish in our state Islam’s great system of governance.”

The secularists insist that the first excerpt from the Quaid's speech of August 11, 1947 to the constituent assembly should be accepted as his true vision for a secular Pakistan. The Islamists vehemently disagree and cite the second excerpt in which the Quaid talked about the fact that "prophet of Islam had given us a constitution 1,300 years ago" and we must implement it.

Misaq-e-Madina: 

The question is: Do the two speech excerpts conflict or support each other? On the surface, the Quaid's speeches appear to send conflicting messages. However, a deeper examination of Misaq-e-Madina (Charter of Medina), Islam's first constitution approved by Prophet Muhammad (SAW), suggests the Quaid's speeches are consistent with each other and conform to the original Islamic constitution.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Honored by US Supreme Court

Here's the opening line of Misaq-e-Madina:

"This is a document from Muhammad the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), governing relations between the Believers i.e. Muslims of Quraysh and Yathrib and those who followed them and worked hard with them. They form one nation -- Ummah."

It clearly says that all citizens of "Yathrib" (ancient name of Madina), regardless of  their tribe or religion, are part of one nation--"Ummah". So the word "Ummah" here does not exclude non-Muslims.

Further into the "Misaq" document, it says: "No Jew will be wronged for being a Jew. The enemies of the Jews who follow us will not be helped. If anyone attacks anyone who is a party to this Pact the other must come to his help."

The Mesaq assures equal protection to all citizens of Madina, including non-Muslim tribes which agreed to it. The contents of Misaq-e-Madina, Islam's first constitution approved by Prophet Mohammad 1400 years ago, appear to have inspired Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's vision of  a pluralistic Pakistan where people of all religions and nationalities live in harmony with equal rights and protections under the law.

Two-Nation-Theory:

Some might now ask what was the need for the Two-Nation-Theory given the above vision of the Quaid? The Quaid's search for Pakistan as an independent state for Muslims was inspired to give India's minority Muslims better opportunities to grow and prosper. While it's true that Pakistan has not lived up to the Quaid's expectations, it is also true that, in spite of all their problems, Muslims in Pakistan are still much better off  than their counterparts in India.

The growing intolerance in Modi's India and the Indian government commission headed by former Indian Chief Justice Rajendar Sachar confirm that Muslims are the new untouchables in caste-ridden and communal India. Indian Muslims suffer heavy discrimination in almost every field from  education and housing to jobs.  Their incarceration rates are also much higher than their Hindu counterparts.

According to Sachar Commission report, Muslims are now worse off than the Dalit caste, or those called untouchables. Some 52% of Muslim men are unemployed, compared with 47% of Dalit men. Among Muslim women, 91% are unemployed, compared with 77% of Dalit women. Almost half of Muslims over the age of 46 ca not read or write. While making up 11% of the population, Muslims account for 40% of India’s prison population. Meanwhile, they hold less than 5% of government jobs.

Those who say that the Two-Nation-Theory died with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 are wrong. They need to be reminded that the Lahore Resolution of March 23, 1940, in fact called for two "independent states", not "state", in Muslim majority areas of India in the north east and the north west. The other fact to remember is that Bangladesh did not choose to merge with India after separation from Pakistan.

Here are a couple of video discussions on this and other subjects:

http://vimeo.com/82796819

http://vimeo.com/103030587


Nawaz Sharif Govt Survival Questioned; ISIS Advances in Iraq from WBT TV on Vimeo.


Jinnah’s birthday, Bangladesh Independence, Abdul Qadir Molla hanging, Aam Aadmi Party success India from WBT TV on Vimeo.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Upwardly Mobile Pakistan

Jaswant Lauds Jinnah

Are Muslims Better Off in Jinnah's Pakistan?

Comparing Pakistan and Bangladesh

Is This a 1971 moment in Pakistan's History?

Is Pakistan Too Big to Fail?

Global Firepower

Jinnah's Pakistan Booms Amidst Doom and Gloom

Quaid-e-Azam M.A. Jinnah's Vision of Pakistan

India Wins Freedom by Maulana Azad

Ayesha Jalal Taking On Pakistan's Hero

The Poor Neighbor by William Dalrymple

Iqbal and Jinnah



Wednesday, December 23, 2015

India's Hindu Nationalists Going Global

India's top Hindu Nationalist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has gone global with shakhas (branches) in 39 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and several Islamic middle eastern nations, according to Indian media reports.


In the United States alone, the RSS has 146 active chapters spread over all 50 states, according to Satish Modh who has been associated with RSS work abroad for over 25 years.

While shakhas in India take place in open public spaces, most shakhas meet on university campuses on hired parking lots in the US, says Modh.  Most overseas shakhas are held once a week. In London, they are held twice a week. The UK has 84 shakhas.

RSS in US:

A US report entitled "Hindu Nationalism in the United States: A Report on Non-Profit Groups" disclosed the following findings regarding the strength and nature of the Hindu nationalist movement in the United States:

 a. Over the last three decades, a movement toward Hinduizing India--advancing the status of Hindus toward political and social primacy in India-- has continued to gain ground in South Asia and diasporic communities. The Sangh Parivar (the Sangh "family"), the network of groups at the forefront of this Hindu nationalist movement, has an estimated membership numbering in the millions, making the Sangh one of the largest voluntary associations in India. The major organizations in the Sangh include the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

b. Hindu nationalism has intensified and multiplied forms of discrimination, exclusion, and gendered and sexualized violence against Muslims, Christians, other minorities, and those who oppose Sangh violations, as documented by Indian citizens and international tribunals, fact-finding groups, international human rights organizations, and U.S. governmental bodies.

c. India-based Sangh affiliates receive social and financial support from its U.S.-based wings, the latter of which exist largely as tax-exempt non-profit organizations in the United States: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA), Sewa International USA, Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation-USA. The Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party - USA (OFBJP) is active as well, though it is not a tax-exempt group.

Influencing Thought and Policies:

The RSS is actively working to influence thought and policies in the West. Examples include the contents of the manifesto of the Norway mass murderer Breivik and attempts to influence California textbooks.

Breivik's Hindutva Rhetoric:

The Norwegian white supremacist terror suspect Anders Behring Breivik's manifesto against the "Islamization of Western Europe" was heavily influenced by the kind of anti-Muslim rhetoric which is typical of the Nazi-loving Hindu Nationalists like late Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar (1906-1973), and his present-day Sangh Parivar followers and sympathizers in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who currently rule several Indian states. This Hindutva rhetoric which infected Breivik has been spreading like a virus on the Internet, particularly on many of the well-known Islamophobic hate sites that have sprouted up in Europe and America in recent years. In fact, much of the Breivik manifesto is cut-and-pastes of anti-Muslim blog posts and columns that validated his worldview.



"It is essential that the European and Indian resistance movements learn from each other and cooperate as much as possible. Our goals are more or less identical," Breivick wrote in his manifesto. The Christian Science Monitor has reported that "in the case of India, there is significant overlap between Breivik’s rhetoric and strains of Hindu nationalism – or Hindutva – on the question of coexistence with Muslims. Human rights monitors have long decried such rhetoric in India for creating a milieu for communal violence, and the Norway incidents are prompting calls here to confront the issue."



Hindu nationalists in India have a long history of admiration for Adolf Hitler, and his "Final Solution". In his book "We" (1939), Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, the leader of the Hindu Nationalist RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) wrote, "To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races -- the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by."

California Textbooks:

Not only have the BJP led governments in India fundamentally altered India's history textbooks, the BJP allies around the world are attempting to the same in textbooks as far as California.

Here are some excerpt from "HISTORY TEXTBOOKS IN INDIA: NARRATIVES OF RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM" by K.N.PANIKKAR:

"The introduction of new textbooks by the NCERT (under BJP) was inspired by the political purpose of seeking rationale from history for constructing India as a Hindu nation. The textbooks were, therefore, recast as narratives of Hindu religious nationalism. Claimed as an effort to retrieve the true nationalist history from the motivated distortions of colonial historiography they attribute to Indian nation an exclusively Hindu character."

"During this period the political climate in the country turned in favour of the Hindu fundamentalist forces, which enabled them in 1998 to lead a coalition government in which the Ministry of Human Resource Development which dealt with education was headed by a long standing cadre of the Hindu fundamentalist organization, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh( RSS). Under his stewardship the government spared no effort to change the content and character of education, of which the introduction of new textbooks, was perhaps the most prominent and indeed controversial."

"The idea of India being a Hindu civilisational state runs through all the texts, either directly expressed or indirectly suggested. The question of the indigenous origin of Aryans and the identity of Harappan civilization with the Vedic society has some bearing on this issue. The former is quite central to the fundamentalist agenda of claiming the nation as Hindu, as the migration theory would deprive the Hindus of indigenous lineage. Therefore, against the widely held scholarly opinion Aryans are credited with indigenous origins, subscribing in the bargain to the colonial view of Aryan race. In the former case the textbooks put forward the view that the Aryans were indigenous to India and that the opinion widely held by scholars about their migration dismissed as inconsequential. In defense of indigenous origin no substantial evidence is adduced, except negative reasoning. It is asserted that the ‘the oldest surviving records of the Aryans, the Rig Veda, does not give even an inkling of any migration. It does not have any knowledge even of the geography beyond the known boundaries of Ancient India.’ It further says: ‘Many scholars think that the Aryans were originally inhabitants of India and did not come from outside. It has been argued by such scholars that there is no archeological or biological evidence, which could establish the arrival of any new people from outside between 5000 B.C and 800 B.C. This means that if at all there was any migration of Aryans or for that matter of any other people in India, it may have taken place at least eight or nine thousand years ago or after 800 B.C. to both of which there is no evidence. Further, the skeletal remains found from various Harappan sites resemble the skeletons of the modern population of the same geographical area.'"


The fanatic Hindu nationalists tried to do in California what their Indian counterparts have already done in India. They attempted to pollute California history textbooks in 2006, when they argued unsuccessfully to include lies like the indigenous origins of Aryans and tried to deny the terrible impact on hundreds of millions of Indians of the caste system and misogyny prevalent in Hindu texts and Aryan culture.

Hundreds of history scholars from US and South Asia helped defeat this reprehensible attempt by Hindu American Foundation (HAF) and its allies in the United States.

While the biggest victims of Hindu fundamentalists are the women and the Dalits of India, non-Hindu minorities and the neighboring states have not been spared either.

They are cowards and they prey upon unarmed Muslim, Christian and Sikh minorities in organized pogroms in what American scholar Paul Brass calls "production of violence" in India with many Indian intellectuals and some in the Indian press justifying the actions of the murderers.

The big brothers of these fanatic Hindutva terrorists occupy high positions in the Indian security establishment, according to former Maharashtra police chief SM Mushrif. These Hindutva allies in Indian government conduct covert warfare via terrorist actions in neighboring states including Pakistan through RAW.

Summary:

The Indian Hindu Nationalists are rapidly increasing their global reach. The hate-filled ideology they preach is a growing potential threat to peace and stability of many nations where they operate. Breivik's actions represent only the tip of a much larger and growing iceberg of death and destruction that lies just beneath the surface.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Hinduization of India

Brievik's Hindutva Rhetoric

Indian Textbooks

India's RAW's Successes in Pakistan



Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Pakistan PPP GDP Nears Trillion Dollar Mark in 2015

Pakistan's PPP GDP is nearing trillion US$ mark in 2015, according to the latest figures available from the International Monetary Fund.

Nominal GDP based on current exchange rates is reported at $270 billion in 2015, up from $246 billion in 2014, an increase of $24 Billion.  Pakistan's per capita nominal GDP for 2015 is $1,427.085, up from $1,325.790 in 2014.

The nation's PPP GDP increased from $884 billion to $930 billion, an increase of $46 billion. Pakistan per capita PPP GDP is $4,902 for 2015, up from $4,749 in 2014, according to the IMF.

A dramatic decline in terrorist violence in Pakistan since the launch of Pakistan Army's Operation Zarb-e-Azb and a big drop in international oil prices have helped drive the country's economic recovery in recent months.

Among the clearest signs of recovery are increasing auto sales, growing smartphone purchases and cement consumption.

Pakistan auto industry is booming. Toyota, Suzuki and Honda factories are working around the clock in the southern port city of Karachi and eastern city of Lahore -- yet customers can still wait for up to four months for new vehicles to be delivered, according to media reports. At the same time, increased construction activity is visible everywhere in the country. First 5 months of the current fiscal year have seen sales of 93,570 cars, an increase of 66% over the same period last year.



Over 2 million 3G subscriptions and a corresponding number of smartphones are being bought every month in the country. More than half the people in Pakistan are expected to own a smartphone within the next few years.

Domestic cement sales have jumped by a phenomenal 16.89% to 4.29 million tons during July and August 2015 from 3.67 million tons shipped in the same period last year.

After its September meeting, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said the rise in fixed investment financing in the energy generation and distribution, chemicals and services sectors signal possible increase in their productive activity in coming months. “The implementation of infrastructure development and energy projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will further enhance the improving investment environment. Therefore, there is anticipation of higher economic activity in 2015-16, which is expected to boost credit uptake,” it said.

Even as its economy recovers, it is unfortunate that Pakistan continues to lag behind its South Asian neighbors in human development.  The latest 2015 human development report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) shows that the country's leadership is continuing to fail its people, particularly the youth, by its lack of focus and underinvestment in education and health care sectors. There can be no sustainable economic growth without investing in human development. It requires immediate attention.


Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistan Auto Industry

Record Cement Sales Raise Hope Of Pakistan Economic Recovery

Credit Suisse Bullish on Pakistan Cement Industry

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Pakistan Army Acts Against Terrorists

Pakistan Middle Class Larger & Richer Than India's

Top Global Investor Bullish on Pakistan

The Role of Cement Industry in Economic Development of Pakistan

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

How Would Trump's Plan to Bar Muslims Impact Pakistanis & Pakistani-Americans?

Leading Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on". While Trump's supporters have cheered this move, top Republican party leaders have denounced it.

The notion of banning all members of one religion from the country "is not what this party stands for," said Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan at Capitol Hill. Ryan's rebuke made even more powerful by the fact that he typically avoids commenting on the presidential race. "More importantly, it's not what this country stands for." US allies in Europe, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls have also condemned Trump's call.

While the chances of Trump's plan becoming reality are remote at best, there's clearly widespread concern about immigrants from Muslim nation that could lead to certain restrictions selectively applied to future Muslim immigrants entering the United States.  In addition to impacting Syrian refugees' entry, such restrictions will also affect future immigrants from Pakistan. These restrictions will make the process more difficult and could significantly reduce the flow of Muslims and Pakistanis into the United States.

Why Pakistan? For two reasons: a) Tafsheen Malik, one of the two suspects in San Bernardino massacre, came from Pakistan on a fiancee visa last year and b) Pakistan is among the top Muslim nations sending immigrants to the United States.

Source: US Senate Subcommittee



The U.S. granted 83,000 green cards to immigrants from Pakistan and another 83,000 to migrants from Iraq between fiscal years 2009 and 2013, according to a chart produced by the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest using Department of Homeland Security data. Immigrants from Bangladesh received 75,000 green cards, those from Iran received 73,000, and those from Egypt received 45,000 to round out the top five. In sum, the U.S. granted 680,000 green cards to immigrants from Muslim-majority nations between 2009 and 2013, according to a media report.

Pakistani-Americans (pop: 409,163 in 2010 US Census) are the seventh largest community among Asian-Americans, behind Chinese (3.8 million),  Filipinos (3.4 million), Indians (3.2 million), Vietnamese (1.74 million),  Koreans (1.7 million) and Japanese (1.3 million), according to Asian-American Center For Advancing Justice . They are still a minuscule fraction of the overall US population. However, their numbers have more than doubled in the last decade due to increased immigration, according to US Census 2010 data. With 100% increase since 2000, Pakistanis are the second fastest growing Asian immigrant group in the United States. With median household income of $63,000, Pakistani-Americans also earn more than an average American household. The most common jobs of Pakistani-Americans include doctors, engineers,  accountants, salespersons, administrators/managers and financial analysts, and 55 per cent hold at least a bachelor’s degree which is higher than 49% of all Asian-Americans and almost twice the 28% of overall American population with college degrees.



Here are some of the highlights of Pakistani-American data from US Census 2010 as gleaned from a report titled "A Community of Contrasts Asian Americans in the United States: 2011" published by Asian-American Center For Advancing Justice:

1. There are 409,163 Pakistani-Americans in 2010, the 7th largest Asian-American community in America.

2. Pakistani-American population doubled from 2000 (204,309) to 2010 (409,163), the second largest percentage increase after Bangladeshis' 157% increase in the same period.

3.  The median household income of Pakistani-American families is nearly $63,000 versus $51,369 average for all Americans.

4. 55% of Pakistanis have a bachelor's degree or higher.

5. 55% of Pakistanis own their own homes.

6. 6% of Pakistani-American population is mixed race.

7. 65% of Pakistanis in America are foreign-born. 57% of foreign-born Pakistani-American population is made up of naturalized citizens.

8. There are 120,000 Pakistani legal permanent residents of which 42% are eligible to naturalize.

9. There were 69,202 immigrant visas issued to Pakistanis from 2001 to 2010, the 5th highest among Asian nations.

10. 28% of Pakistanis have limited English proficiency.

11. 15% of Pakistanis are classified as poor; only 1% of them are on public assistance.

12. 8% of Pakistanis are unemployed, a figure lower than the general population of Americans.

13. Median age of Pakistanis in America is only 29 years, lower than most of the Asian groups and the national median age of 36.8 years.

Pakistani-American community is still relatively young when compared with other immigrant groups. More of the Pakistanis in America are college educated than the general population of whites and various immigrant groups.  They work in high-tech and entertainment fields, start and lead companies in Silicon Valley as entrepreneurs, own major professional sports teams, look after people as health care providers, serve in the US military and hold public offices. The youthful energy and higher education levels of Pakistani-Americans are opening doors for them to rise and shine in America, in spite of the current environment of religious discrimination and other difficulties in their adopted land of opportunities.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistani-American NFL Team Owner  

OPEN Forum 2012 

Pakistani-American Elected Mayor

Pakistani-American Entrepreneurs Catch the Wave

Khan Academy Draws Pakistani Visitors

Minorities are Majority in Silicon Valley

Pakistani-American's Game-Changing Vision 

Pakistan's Demographic Dividend

Pakistanis Study Abroad

Pakistan's Youth Bulge

Pakistani Diaspora World's 7th Largest


Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Silicon Valley Book Launch of A.H. Cemendtaur's "The Green Ibn Battuta"

Pakistani-American community gathered for the unveiling of Ali Hasan Cemendtaur's travelogue "The Green Ibn Battuta" at Pakistan American Cultural Center in Silicon Valley on Saturday, December 5, 2015.

Dr. Waheed Siddiqui


The event featured Urdu poetry, reading of excerpts from the book written in English and a highly entertaining monologue in Urdu by the author. It was organized by senior community leader Dr. Waheed Siddiqui of the PACC and emceed by Faraz Darvesh, the host of the popular Viewpoint From Overseas weekly Pakistani-American show based in Silicon Valley. The main presenters included Mrs. Talat Qadeer Khan, Dr. Aifra Ahmad, Misbah Azam, Ijaz Syed, Riaz Haq and Ali Hasan Cemendtaur.

Mrs. Talat Khan


In his presentation, Riaz Haq said "the history is often referred to as "His Story", a description acknowledging the fact that the history writer's worldview influences his or her work. This reality applies to travelogues as well".


Green Ibn Battuta Book Cover
We are used to reading world travel accounts written by western travelers; Ali Hasan Cemendtaur's Ibn Battuta is a rare exception as it sees the world through the eyes of a Pakistani. The title is a tribute to Ibn Battuta, the 14th century Muslim traveler from North Africa who wrote extensively about his travels of much of the known world at the time. Ali's Ibn Battuta covers his travels starting in 1990s.

Ali's Pakistani-ness drove his curiosity to visit Multan Karavansarai in Baku, Azerbaijan., where he discovered old trade ties between the Pakistani city of Multan and the Central Asia region dating back to the 15th century. His Pakistani origin compelled his interest in The Caucasus (Koh Qaaf), the mountainous region 1,000 by 600 kms in size that lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, where Azerbaijan is located. Koh Qaaf  (Caucasus mountain) is associated with many fairytales that Pakistani children have grown up with. Dastaan e Amir Hamza is an Urdu collection of fairytales from Koh Qaf that continues to fascinate Pakistanis to this day.  The Caucasian label, the US official race classification for American whites, traces the origin of all white Europeans to the Caucasus region.   Harvard genetic studies have confirmed that the ancestors of many Ancestral North Indians and Pakistanis came from this region.


Ali's Muslim identity took him to the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, Islam's 3rd holiest place, in Jerusalem now controlled by Israel. It was a Friday when Ali went to the AlAqsa, a day when only Muslims are permitted to enter it.  He was stopped at the entrance to the mosque by armed soldiers who tested him to ensure that he is Muslim. It's an experience I can relate to. I, too, was subjected to similar tests at two different mosques prior to entering for the Friday prayers: At Al-Aqsa in Old Jerusalem and Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron on the Israeli-occupied West Bank in Palestine.

Faraz Darvesh


Riaz Haq told the audience, "I have known my footloose friend Ali, fellow Silicon Valley NEDian,  disappear for weeks, sometimes months at a time, only to reappear via email or social media posts from some remote exotic locations in different parts of the world. And he doesn't travel alone; he has his wife Hina and twin babies in tow. In fact, he's been doing it since the days when his daughter and son were still infants in diapers".

Dr. Aifra Ahmed


The list of the locations he's written about is long with countries located on every continent and every corner of the world. And he has done most of it using his green passport issued by the government of his native Pakistan.



Along the way, Ali  ended up in brief Interpol detention in Colombia, robbed in Swaziland and stranded at Romania-Hungary border.

When Ali's Avianca flight to Caracas, Venezuela, was delayed till the following day, his loud protests at Bogota Airport in Columbia helped him get out of the Interpol jail and he was put in the VIP lounge at the airport. Riaz Haq read the following excerpt from The Green Ibn Battuta:

"The Interpol man started talking to people on the phone. He finally put down the phone. "No, we can not let you go to the hotel, but we will put you in the VIP lounge. I'm sure you'd like it there,"we were told. Shortly, a security man came and took us to the VIP lounge. The VIP salon at Bogota airport had drinks and munchies, and reclining seats. We were still in the Interpol surveillance but the VIP lounge was a better jail than the one left behind just minutes ago. "


Misbah Azam


Ali has travelled through varied terrains ranging from dry deserts to thick rain forests. He has visited the hermit kingdom of North Korea, the conflict-ridden Israel, and the hitherto pariah state of Cuba, at least for the Americans. His travels have taken him to the failed state of Haiti, post-Apartheid South Africa  and the highly industrialized rich nations of Western  Europe. He has ventured into the countries that used to be behind the Iron Curtain in the Cold War era, and seen the developing nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Middle East.

Author Ali H. Cemendtaur 


In South Africa while traveling on a bus from Cape Town to Johannesburg, a woman fellow traveler sought to proselytize Ali.  "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your savior?" she asked.  When Ali said "no", the woman gave him a long sermon that lasted the entire bus ride. Here's an excerpt from the book read by Riaz Haq at the event:

My "no" cost me heavily. I had to listen to Cynthia for a very long time. Later, she asked me, 

"On whose recommendation have you come to South Africa?" putting emphasis on each word. 

I had a strong temptation to say "Jesus Christ's" but then I had a second thought. She would not appreciate the joke. I mumbled something to the effect that I was a student and I was in South Africa to learn through observation. When I spoke out my critique of the South African society, she let her guard down. 

"Before, we could not travel like this," she told me. 

I wasn't sure if by "we" she meant all of the South Africans of color, or she meant she and I. 

People would travel secretly in much poorer condition. But when you know that Lord loves you, you can put up with all that," she said. No wonder Marx called religion the opium of the masses.   




Riaz Haq

Riaz Haq described The Green Ibn Battuta as a book "filled with entertaining anecdotes and insightful observations about many exotic places and interesting cultures. It is written in an easy to read and highly engaging style that will keep you absorbed and make you finish it in one sitting once you start reading it."

The event concluded with a very self-deprecating and humorous monologue by Ali Hasan Cemendtaur that reminded the audience of Zia Mohyeddin's reading of Mushtaq Yusufi's work.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

My Footloose Friend Ali Cemendtaur

Silicon Valley NEDians

Silicon Valley Pakistanis

Silicon Valley Launch of Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb

Explosion of Art and Culture in Pakistan

Talk4Pak Think Tank

VPOS Youtube Channel

VPOS Vimeo Channel


Sunday, December 6, 2015

Karachi Local Elections; San Bernardino Shooting; India Climate Change

What does MQM's Karachi sweep mean for Sindh's future? Will Karachi return to the situation prior to Rangers' operation? Or will MQM change by cutting its ties to militants and criminals? Will local elections help produce new and better national leadership of the future?

Was San Bernardino shooting an act of terror? Or was it just another mass shooting like the prior 354 mass shootings of the year 2015 in America? Will it result in improved gun regulations? Or will it be used to focus on more anti-terror actions without keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists? Will Islamophobes exploit this incident to push their hate agenda?

Does India's position at climate change summit in Paris represent the views of the entire developing world? Will the rich nations financially help the developing nations switch to clean development without the use of fossil fuels like coal?

Viewpoint From Overseas host Faraz Darvesh discusses these questions with well-known Pakistani activist Jibran Nasir and regular panelists Misbah Azam and Riaz Haq (www.riazhaq.com)


https://vimeo.com/148032845



Karachi Local Elections; San Bernadino Shooting; India Climate Change from WBT Productions on Vimeo.


http://dai.ly/x3h5c7p



Karachi Local Elections; San Bernadino Shooting... by ViewpointFromOverseas


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7n3BRMzlRs





Related Links:

Haq's Musings

India, Bangladesh Most Vulnerable to Climate Change; China, Pakistan Close Behind

Majority of World's Dirtiest Cities Are In India

MQM-RAW Connection

Gangs of Karachi

US Gun Violence, Islamophobia and Terrorism

Talk4Pak Think Tank

VPOS Youtube Channel

VPOS Vimeo Channel

Friday, December 4, 2015

My Footloose Friend Ali Cemendtaur's Travelogue: The Green Ibn Battuta

History is often referred to as "His Story", a description acknowledging the fact that the history writer's worldview influences his or her work. This reality applies to travelogues as well.

We are used to reading world travel accounts written by western travelers; Ali Hasan Cemendtaur's Ibn Battuta is a rare exception as it sees the world through the eyes of a Pakistani. The title is a tribute to Ibn Battuta, the 14th century Muslim traveler from North Africa who wrote extensively about his travels of much of the known world at the time. Ali's Ibn Battuta covers his travels starting in 1990s.

Ali's Pakistani-ness drove his curiosity to visit Multan Karavansarai in Baku, Azerbaijan., where he discovered old trade ties between the Pakistani city of Multan and the Central Asia region dating back to the 15th century. His Pakistani origin compelled his interest in The Caucasus (Koh Qaaf), the mountainous region 1,000 by 600 kms in size that lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, where Azerbaijan is located. Koh Qaaf  (Caucasus mountain) is associated with many fairytales that Pakistani children have grown up with. Dastaan e Amir Hamza is an Urdu collection of fairytales from Koh Qaf that continues to fascinate Pakistanis to this day.  The Caucasian label, the US official race classification for American whites, traces the origin of all white Europeans to the Caucasus region.   Harvard genetic studies have confirmed that the ancestors of many Ancestral North Indians and Pakistanis came from this region.

Ali's Muslim identity took him to the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, Islam's 3rd holiest place, in Jerusalem now controlled by Israel. It was a Friday when Ali went to the AlAqsa, a day when only Muslims are permitted to enter it.  He was stopped at the entrance to the mosque by armed soldiers who tested him to ensure that he is Muslim. It's an experience I can relate to. I, too, was subjected to similar tests at two different mosques prior to entering for the Friday prayers: At Al-Aqsa in Old Jerusalem and Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron on the Israeli-occupied West Bank in Palestine.

I have known my footloose friend Ali, fellow Silicon Valley NEDian,  disappear for weeks, sometimes months at a time, only to reappear via email or social media posts from some remote exotic locations in different parts of the world. And he doesn't travel alone; he has his wife Hina and twin babies in tow. In fact, he's been doing it since the days when his daughter and son were still infants in diapers.  

The list of the locations he's written about is long with countries located on every continent and every corner of the world. And he has done most of it using his green passport issued by the government of his native Pakistan.

Along the way, Ali  ended up in brief Interpol detention in Colombia, robbed in Swaziland and stranded at Romania-Hungary border.

When Ali's Avianca flight to Caracas, Venezuela, was delayed till the following day, his loud protests at Bogota Airport in Columbia helped him get out of the Interpol jail and he was put in the VIP lounge at the airport. Here's an excerpt from The Green Ibn Battuta:

"The Interpol man started talking to people on the phone. He finally put down the phone. "No, we can not let you go to the hotel, but we will put you in the VIP lounge. I'm sure you'd like it there,"we were told. Shortly, a security man came and took us to the VIP lounge. The VIP salon at Bogota airport had drinks and munchies, and reclining seats. We were still in the Interpol surveillance but the VIP lounge was a better jail than the one left behind just minutes ago. "

Ali has travelled through varied terrains ranging from dry deserts to thick rain forests. He has visited the hermit kingdom of North Korea, the conflict-ridden Israel, and the hitherto pariah state of Cuba, at least for the Americans. His travels have taken him to the failed state of Haiti, post-Apartheid South Africa  and the highly industrialized rich nations of Western  Europe. He has ventured into the countries that used to be behind the Iron Curtain in the Cold War era, and seen the developing nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Middle East.

In South Africa while traveling on a bus from Cape Town to Johannesburg, a woman fellow traveler sought to proselytize Ali.  "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your savior?" she asked.  When Ali said "no", the woman gave him a long sermon that lasted the entire bus ride. Here's an excerpt from the book:

My "no" cost me heavily. I had to listen to Cynthia for a very long time. Later, she asked me, 

"On whose recommendation have you come to South Africa?" putting emphasis on each word. 

I had a strong temptation to say "Jesus Christ's" but then I had a second thought. She would not appreciate the joke. I mumbled something to the effect that I was a student and I was in South Africa to learn through observation. When I spoke out my critique of the South African society, she let her guard down. 

"Before, we could not travel like this," she told me. 

I wasn't sure if by "we" she meant all of the South Africans of color, or she meant she and I. 

People would travel secretly in much poorer condition. But when you know that Lord loves you, you can put up with all that," she said. No wonder Marx called religion the opium of the masses.   

The Green Ibn Battuta is filled with entertaining anecdotes and insightful observations about many exotic places and interesting cultures. It is written in an easy to read and highly engaging style that will keep you absorbed and make you finish it in one sitting once you start reading it. I highly recommend it.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Silicon Valley NEDians

Silicon Valley Pakistanis

Silicon Valley Launch of Eating Grass: The Making of the Pakistani Bomb

Explosion of Art and Culture in Pakistan

Talk4Pak Think Tank

VPOS Youtube Channel

VPOS Vimeo Channel



Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Debunking Bangladeshi Nationalists' 1971 Myths

Aided and abetted by the Indian and western media, the Bangladeshi Nationalists led by the Awami League have concocted and promoted elaborate myths about the events surrounding Pakistan's defeat in December 1971.

Pakistan's Lt Gen Niazi Surrenders to Indian Army Dec, 1971
Sheikh Mujib's daughter and current Bangladesh Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina alleges "colonial exploitation" of Bengalis by Pakistan and "Bengali genocide" by the Pakistan Army. They claim economic disparities between East and West Pakistan as the main cause of their "war of independence" in which "Pakistan Army killed 3 million Bangladeshis".

Let's examine the Bangladeshi claims on the basis of real facts and data known today as follows:

1. The per capita income in West Pakistan was 60% higher than in East Pakistan in 1971. But they never tell you that the per capita income in East Pakistan was higher than in West Bengal and India. They also don't tell you that the ratio of per capita incomes between Bangladesh and Pakistan has changed little in the last four decades since "independence'.

Per Capita Incomes Source: World Bank


2.  Bangladeshi nationalists claims that "three million people were killed, nearly quarter million women were raped". These claims have failed the scrutiny of the only serious scholarly researcher Sarmila Bose ever done into the subject.  Bose's investigation of the 1971 Bangladeshi narrative began when she saw a picture of the Jessore massacre of April 2, 1971. It showed "bodies lie strewn on the ground. All are adult men, in civilian clothes....The caption of the photo is just as grim as its content: "April 2, 1971: Genocide by the Pakistan Occupation Force at Jessore."  Upon closer examination, Bose found that "some of the Jessore bodies were dressed in shalwar kameez ' an indication that they were either West Pakistanis or ‘Biharis’, the non-Bengali East Pakistanis who had migrated from northern India". In Bose's book "Dead Reckoning" she has done case-by-case body count estimates that lead her in the end to estimate that between 50,000 and 100,000 people were killed on all sides, including Bengalis, Biharis, West Pakistanis and others, in 1971 war.

3. Dr. M. Abdul Mu’min Chowdhury, a Bengali nationalist who actively participated in the separatist cause, in his publication "Behind the Myth of 3 Million", challenges the falsehood. Citing an extensive range of sources to show that what the Pakistani army was carrying out in East Pakistan was a limited counter-insurgency, not genocide, the scholar discloses that after the creation of Bangladesh, the new de facto government offered to pay Taka 2,000 to every family that suffered loss of life but only 3,000 families claimed such compensation. Had there been three million Bengalis dead, a lot more of such families would have come forward. The actual fighting force of Pakistan was 40,000 not 93,000. They were given the responsibility to maintain law and order and protect civilians from the India-backed insurgents of Mukti Bahini. India's Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw praised the professionalism and gallantry of Pakistani soldiers facing the Indian Army's 50:1 advantage in the 1971 war.

Recent books and speeches by Indian officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ex top RAW officials, confirm what Pakistanis have known all along: India orchestrated the East Pakistan insurgency and then invaded East Pakistan to break up Pakistan in December 1971.

Here's a video of Indian Army Chief Field Marshal Manekshaw talking about Pakistan Army in 1971 War:

https://vimeo.com/55461334



Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw on Pakistan Army's gallantry in 1971 War from cherie22579 on Vimeo.


What Happened in East Pakistan (Yuri Bezmenov Former KGB Psychological Warfare Expert). Yuri Bezmenov ex KGB Psychological Warfare Expert Explains What Happened in East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) in This Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bb_fXONk2Y



Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Ex Indian Spy Documents RAW's Successes in Pakistan

Shaikh Hasina's Witch Hunt

Bangladesh and Pakistan Compared

Economic Disparity Between East and West Pakistan

Is this a 1971 Moment in Pakistan's History? 

India's Hostility Toward Pakistan