Roshni Issue No. 83

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A Soothing Musical night with
Saturday 15th Aug. 2015, 06:00pm
PAK-NY-CAP Contact:
Akbar Khan
518-334-3175
Asim Raja MD 518-763-5459
Ashraf Shahab 518-331-5787
Salim Bhatti
518-221-5075
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"Seriously," the mechanic
exclaimed, "that brake fluid is
poison!"
"Hey, man" yelled the coworker, "back off! I can stop any
time I want."
NATCHITOCHES
HE FISH-EATING COMPETITION
One day some fisherman
caught tons of fish called tench.
The fisherman couldn''t eat them
all so they gave them to the Mayor
of the town. The Mayor wasn''t
sure what to do with them. Then he
had an idea; he would have a fisheating competition.
When they had the
competition, there were two
finalists: a man from a place called
Fife, whose name was Mr. Hicks;
and a man that was from Sweden,
whose name is Sven.
So they had the final; the Mayor
fired the starting pistol and they
started eating the tench. No
sooner had Mr. Hicks bitten the
fish than one of his teeth fell out.
He couldn''t eat because of this so
he stopped, but the Mayor refused
to stop the competition. So Sven
kept on eating and ended up
eating nine of these tench fish.
The next day the headlines read:
ONE TOOTH FREE FOR FIFE
HICKS, SVEN ATE NINE TENCH!
BRAKE FLUID ADDICTION

A mechanic noticed his coworker drinking brake fluid at
lunch.
"What are you doing, man? You
can't drink that stuff!"
"Relax," replied his co-worker,
"this stuff tastes pretty good, and I
ROSHNI Issue No.83
Two tourists were driving

through Louisiana. As they
approached Natchitoches, they
star ted ar gui ng about the
pronunciation of the town.
They went back and forth until
they stopped for lunch. At the
counter, one tourist asked the
employee, "Before we order, could
you please settle an argument for
us? Would you please pronounce
where we are very slowly?"
The guy leaned over the
counter and said, "Burrr-gerrr
Kiiing."
COUNTRY POLITICS
A busload of politicians were
driving down a country road, when
suddenly the bus ran off the road
and crashed into an old farmer''s
barn.
The old farmer got off his
tractor and went to investigate.
Soon he dug a hole and buried the
politicians. A few days later, the
local sheriff came out, saw the
crashed bus and asked the old
farmer where all the politicians
had gone.
The old farmer told him he had
buried them.
The sheriff asked the old
farmer, "Lordy, were they ALL
dead?"
The old farmer said, "Well,
some of them said they weren''t,
but you know how them crooked
politicians lie."
21
PRISON MAIL
A prisoner in jail receives a
letter from his wife: "Dear
husband, I have decided to plant
some lettuce in the back garden.
When is the best time to plant
them?"
The prisoner, knowing that the
prison guards read all mail, replies
in a letter: "Dear wife, whatever
you do, do not touch the back
garden. That is where I hid all the
money."
A week or so later, he receives
another letter from his wife. "Dear
husband, you wouldn't believe
what happened. Some men came
with shovels to the house and dug
up the back garden."
The prisoner writes back:
"Dear wife, now is the best time to
plant the lettuce.
August 2015
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Eric K. Copland
Barbara C. Brenner
ROSHNI Issue No.83
eric.k.copland@coplandandbrenner.com
barbara.c.brenner@coplandandbrenner.com
20
USCIS Launches Citizenship

Public Awareness Initiative
WASHINGTON U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services released a series of
promotional materials as part of the
Citizenship Public Education and
Awareness Initiative. This media
campaign launched under the umbrella of
the Task Force on New Americans and
President Obamas executive actions on
immigration.
According to the most recent analysis by
the Department of Homeland Securitys
Office of Immigration Statistics, an
estimated 8.8 million lawful permanent
residents are eligible to apply for
citizenship, eligible Green card holders
may apply for citizenship after five years,
or three years if they are married to a U.S.
citizenn
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August 2015
We-SWT destroyed them for their

sins, and We-SWT produced after
them a generation of others.
(6:6)
Wal aw n azza ln a AAa la yka
kitaban fee qirtasin falamasoohu
biaydeehim laqala allatheena kafaroo
in hatha illa sihrun mubeen(un)
And had We-SWT sent down to
them a Book written upon parchment
which they could have touched with
their hands, even then those who
disbelieve would have said: this is
nothing but magic manifest.
(6:7)
Waqaloo lawla onzila AAalayhi
malakun walaw anzalna malakan
laqudiya alamru thumma la
yuntharoon(a)
And they say: why has not an
angel-AS been sent down to him.
Were We-SWT to send down an
angel-AS, the affair would have been
decreed, and they would not be
respited.
(6:8)
Walaw jaAAalnahu malakan
lajaAAalnahu rajulan walalabasna
AAalayhim mayalbisoon(a)
And had We-SWT made him an
angel-AS, We-SWT would still have
made him a man, and We-SWT would
have confounded for them what they
have now been confounding.
(6:9)
Walaqadi istuhzia birusulin min
qablika f ahaqa bi(a)ll at heena
sakhiroo minhum makanoo bihi
yastahzioon(a)
And assuredly mocked were the
Messengers-AS before you-SW ;
then at what they scoffed beset those
who had been mocking
(6:10)
In The Name of Allah-SWT the
Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
SECRETS OF REVELATION:
Logical Explanation of Unity
The human knowledge can only
encompass changes that the earth
and the atmosphere undergo.
Whether he strives to reach the stars
or floats with the clouds; he can never
go high enough to surmount the sky.
ROSHNI Issue No.83
The earth is like a book full of wonders

and mysteries, which he has not been
able to read completely; nor will he
ever be. As the time moves on,
research leads to new discoveries,
doctrines and theories. Applying
these doctrines and theories,
mankind benefits from the nature.
Such efforts are, however, carried out
either on the face of the earth or in the
space. Moreover, light and darkness
have their own peculiar influence;
certain products are best nurtured in
darkness, while others are dependent
on light. A drop entering the darkness
of the oyster shell turns into a pearl;
the seed hidden in the layers of soil is
given life by the rays of sunlight. While
the sunlight helps in the ripening of
fruits, the soft moonlight ushers in the
sweetness. In short, this world of
colour and fragrance is a spectacular
wonder made possible by the soil,
darkness and the light. But its limits
extend only to the sky. Just imagine
how great and worthy of praise is HeSWT , Who-SWT is not only the
Creator of this earth with all its
qualities, but also the Creator of the
darkness and the light, and of the blue
sky which because of its height is
holding the whole world in its lap. How
can it then be fair for the non-believers
to do Sajdah before any creation in
which they see some excellence?
The magnificence, which is rightfully
Allaah-SWT s, Who-SWT created
everything, cannot possibly be
attributed to others. How can there be
a comparison between the grandeur
of the Creator and that of the humble
crea ti on h elp le ss a nd we ak,
dependant every moment on His
Mercy! What a beautiful way of
invoking deliberation; if one ponders
carefully, he will never equate the
creation with the Creator.
Taking the earth and the heavens
as the "greater world, let us talk about
the "smaller world" which flourishes
within the human body created from
clay. From clay to a sperm and from
this sperm He-SWT fashioned the
human body and continuously
nourished it with different forms of
food, until it turned into strong and
handsome youth. There are so many
wonders within this smaller world-the
human body. It is amazing how the
19
hands work, how the muscles and

veins of the feet act. Just ponder over
the functioning of muscles, functions
of heart and liver, the stomach, which
is a continuously burning furnace, the
hearing of ears, the sight of eyes, the
power of speech of tongue; isn't all
this incredible? So will you take these
organs as gods, for their incredibility?
If you do so death surely will remove
this doubt from your mind when it will
render the eyes visionless, the feet
numb, the tongue speechless, the
heart silent and the stomach
inoperative.
All this goes on, all the time,
around you. Just as this small world is
always threatened by death, and
every one sooner or later shall fall
prey to it, so is a Day appointed for the
greater world. The actual hour, of
course, is known only to Him-SWT
Who created it. Therefore, neither the
human being, nor any other creation
is worthy of worship. He-SWT Alone
deserves all praise: He-SWT has
always been and will always be. HisSWT Greatness knows no decline! O
non-believers! When all the wonders
of His-SWT creation are right in front
of you and you experience them all
the time, it is not proper on your part to
harbour any doubts in your mind.
Allaah-SWT has blessed you with
intellect and excellence, and you see
it with open eyes that He-SWT Alone
wields authority over the earth and the
heavens. If any other being had the
slightest say in the management and
governing of Allaah-SWT s Kingdom,
there certainly would have been some
flaw in the system. In every State and
kingdom, there are some who rebel
against Allaah-SWT s Rule, and
impede the smooth running of the
world. But those who rebel against
Allaah-SWT cannot equal Him-SWT
as He-SWT is the Creator and the rest
is the creation. Thus His-SWT system
is not affected by any one's denial or
accept ance. I ndee d His-SW T
Knowledge is comprehensive, while a
human being does not even know
what might happen to him the next
moment: he keeps his secrets from
other fellowmen whereas AllaahSWT knows all that is done and said
overtly or covertlyn
August 2015
Asrar At-Tanzil
The English Tafseer of Quran

By: Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan
Translation and Tafseer Surah Name: Al-An'am Meaning:The Cattle, Reveleaed at Makkah
Continued from Last issue
he entire Sarah was revealed at

one time during the last year of
the Holy Prophet-SW stay at
Makkah. It, therefore, sums up the
major articles of faith, the unity of
Allah-SWT , life beyond life, and the
Prophethood together with their
practical application to human life.
Simultaneously, it rejects the wrong
beliefs of the Polytheists, giving
answers to their objections-and
comforts the Holy Prophet-SW and
his Companions-RAU at this most
critical juncture, against the reckless
persecutions of the non-believers. It
ends up with the solemn declaration
chosen for the true believers: Surely
my Salaat, my devotion, my life and
my death are all for Allah-SWT .
Excellence in every aspect is
attributed to the Creator of the
heavens and the earth: of the light and
the darkness
Total Number of Ruku/ Sections 20.
Total Number of Ayat / Parts 165
Surah / Chapter number 6
Ruku / Section 1 contains Ayat /
Parts 10
Siparah/ Volume 7 & 8
In The Name of Allah-SWT the Most
Gracious, The Most Merciful.
Alhamdu lillahi allathee khalaqa
a(l)ssamawati wa(a)larda wajaAAala
a(l)ththulumati wa(al)nnoora thumma
allatheena kafaroo birabbihim
yaAAdiloon(a)
All praise to Allaah-SWT, WhoSWT created the heavens and the
earth and made the darkness and the
light yet those who disbelieve
equalize others with their Rabb-SWT .
(6:1)
Huwa allathee khalaqakum min
teenin thumma qada ajalan waajalun
ROSHNI Issue No.83
musamman AAindahu thumma

antum tamtaroon(a)
He-SWT it is Who-SWT created
you of clay, and then decreed a term.
A term determined is with Him-SWT and yet you waver.
(6:2)
Wahuwa Allahu fee a(l)ssamawati
wafee alardi yaAAlamu sirrakum
waja hrakum wayaAAlamu ma
taksiboon(a)
He-SWT is Allaah-SWT in the
heavens and the earth. He-SWT
knows your secret and your overt and
He-SWT knows what you earn.
(6:3)
Wama tateehim min ayatin min
ayati rabbihim illa kanoo AAanha
muAArideen(a)
And not a sign comes to them of
the sign of their Rabb-SWT but that
they have been backsliding there
from.
(6:4)
Faqad kaththaboo bi(a)lhaqqi
lamma jaahum fasawfa yateehim
anbao ma kanoo bihi yastahzioon(a)
Assuredly they belied the truth
when it came to them, so now there is
coming to them the tidings of what
they have been mocking at.
(6:5)
Alam yaraw kam ahlakna min
qablihim min qarnin makkannahum
fee alardi malam numakkin lakum
waarsalna a(l)ssamaa AAalayhim
midraran wajaAAalnaalanhara tajree
min tahtihim faahlaknahum
bithunoobihim waanshana min
baAAdihim qarnan akhareen(a)
Have they not observed how many
a generation before them We-SWT
have destroyed whom We-SWT had
established on the earth as We-SWT
have not established you, and upon
whom We-SWT had poured rains
from heaven, and beneath whom WeSWT had made the rivers flow; yet
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18
August 2015
assertions of opinion.
We ought therefore to look more
closely at the supposed monolith to
which we apply the word Islam. It is
said that Muslims believe in female
genital mutilation, the surgical
removal of all or part of a girl's clitoris.
Yet I have never, in my 41 years, had a
conversation with someone who
described themselves as Muslim and
believed this practice to be anything
other than a despicably inhuman
abomination. Until I first read about it
in a newspaper, probably in my 20s, I
would have thought it impossible that
such a ritual could even exist.
Similarly, many millions of
Muslims apparently believe that
women should have no role in politics.
But many millions more have had no
qualms electing women prime
mi ni st er s i n M u sl i m -m a j o r i t y
countries such as Pakistan and
Bangladesh. Indeed, this month's
Pakistani elections witnessed a
record 448 women running for seats
in the national and provincial
assemblies.
Two of my great-grandparents
sent all of their daughters to
university. One of them, my
grandmother, was the chairperson of
the All Pakistan Women's Association
and dedicated her life to the
advancement of women's rights in the
country. But among those descended
from the same line are women who do
not work and who refuse to meet men
who are not their blood relatives. I
have female relatives my age who
cover their heads, others who wear
mini-skirts, some who are university
professors or run businesses, others
who choose rarely to leave their
homes. I suspect if you were to ask
them their religion, all would say
"Islam". But if you were to use that
term to define their politics, careers,
or social values, you would struggle to
come up with a coherent, unified view.
Lived religion is a very different
ROSHNI Issue No.83
thing from strict textual analysis. Very

few people of any faith live their lives
as literalist interpretations of
scripture. Many people have little or
no knowledge of scripture at all. Many
others who have more knowledge
choose to interpret what they know in
ways that are convenient, or that fit
their own moral sense of what is good.
Still others view their religion as a kind
of self-accepted ethnicity, but live
lives utterly divorced from any sense
of faith.
When the Pakistani Taliban were
filmed flogging a young woman in
Swat as punishment for her allegedly
"amoral" behaviour, there was such
popular revulsion in Pakistan that the
army launched a military campaign to
retake the region. As my parents'
driver told me, "They say they beat
her because of Islam. This isn't Islam.
Islam says to do good things. So how
can this be Islam?" He offered no
complex hermeneutics in support of
his position. His Islamic moral
compass was not textual; it was
internal, his own notion of right and
wrong.
I often hear it said, at readings or
talks ranging from Lahore to
Louisiana, that The Reluctant
Fundamentalist is about a man who
becomes an Islamic fundamentalist.
I'm not sure what that term means,
exactly, but I have a reasonable idea
about the sentences and paragraphs
that are actually present in the book.
Changez, the main character, is a
Pakistani student at Princeton. When
he gets his dream job at a high-paying
valuation firm in New York, he
exclaims, "Thank you, God!"
That 's it . Ot her t han that
exclamation (a common figure of
speech), there's no real evidence that
Changez is religious. He doesn't
quote from scripture. He never asks
himself about heaven or hell or the
divine. He drinks. He has sex out of
marriage. His beliefs could quite
17
plausibly be those of a secular

humanist. And yet he calls himself a
Muslim, and is angry with US foreign
policy, and grows a beard and that
seems to be enough. Changez may
well be an agnostic, or even an
atheist. Nonetheless he is somehow,
and seemingly quite naturally, read by
many people as a character who is an
Islamic fundamentalist.
Why? Th e no vel care fu ll y
separates the politics of selfidentification from any underlying
religious faith or spirituality. It sets out
to show that the former can exist in the
absence of the latter. Yet we tend to
read the world otherwise, to imagine
computer-software-like religious
operating systems where perhaps
none exist.
And in so doing, it is we who create
the monolith. If we look at religion as
practised in the world outside, we see
multiplicity. It is from inside us that the
urge to unify arises. A dozen years
after 2001, we are perhaps getting
better at resisting this impulse. But we
still have a long, long way to gon
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The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Mohsin Hamid
here are more than a billion

Muslims in the world, each
with an individual view of
life. So why are they viewed as a
unified group, asks Mohsin Hamid,
author of The Reluctant
Fundamentalist
In 2007, six years after the terrorist
attacks of 11 September 2001, I was
travelling through Europe and North
America. I had just published a novel,
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and
as I travelled I was struck by the large
number of interviewers and of
audience members at Q&As who
spoke of Islam as a monolithic thing,
as if Islam referred to a self-contained
and clearly defined world, a sort of
Microsoft Windows, obviously
different from, and considerably
incompatible with, the Apple OS Xlike operating system of "the west".
I recall one reading in Germany in
particular. Again and again, people
posed queries relating to how "we
Europeans" see things, in contrast to
how "you Muslims" do. Eventually I
was so exasperated that I pulled my
British passport out of my jacket and
started waving it around my head.
"While it's true the UK hasn't yet
joined the eurozone," I said, " I hope
we can all agree the country is in fact
in Europe."
Six years on, a film inspired by the
novel is in the process of appearing
on screens around the world, and I am
pleased to report that those sorts of
questions are a little rarer now than
they were in 2007. This represents
progress. But it is modest progress,
for the sense of Islam as a monolith
lingers, in places both expected and
unexpected.
ROSHNI Issue No.83
Recently I was told by a welltravelled acquaintance in London that

while Muslims can be aggressive,
they are united by a sense of deep
h o s p i t a l i t y. I r e p l i e d t h a t I
remembered being in Riyadh airport,
standing in line, when a Saudi
immigration officer threw the passport
of a Pakistani labourer right into his
face. If that was hospitality, I wasn't
sure we had the same definition.
I s l a m i s n o t a r a ce , y e t
Islamophobia partakes of racist
characteristics. Most Muslims do not
"choose" Islam in the way that they
choose to become doctors or lawyers,
nor even in the way that they choose
to become fans of Coldplay or
Radiohead. Most Muslims, like
people of any faith, are born into their
religion. They then evolve their own
relationship with it, their own,
individual, view of life, their own
micro-religion, so to speak.
There are more than a billion
variations of lived belief among
people who define themselves as
Muslim one for each human being,
just as there are among those who
describe themselves as Christian, or
Buddhist, or Hindu. Islamophobia
represents a refusal to acknowledge
these variations, to acknowledge
individual humanities, a desire to
paint members of a perceived group
with the same brush. In that sense, it
is indeed like racism. It
simultaneously credits Muslims with
too much and too little agency: too
much agency in choosing their
religion, and too little in choosing what
to make of it.
Islamophobia can be found
proudly raising its head in militaristic
16
American thinktanks, xenophobic

European political parties, and even
in atheistic discourse, where
somehow "Islam" can be
characterised as "more bad" than
religion generally, in the way one
might say that a mugger is bad, but a
black mugger is worse, because
black people are held to be more
innately violent.
Islamophobia crops up repeatedly
in public debate, such as over the
proposed Islamic cultural centre in
downtown Manhattan (the so-called
"Ground Zero mosque") or the ban on
minarets in Switzerland. And it crops
up in private interactions as well.
In my early 20s, I remember being
seated next to a pretty Frenchwoman
at a friend's birthday dinner in Manila.
Shortly after we were introduced, and
seemingly unconnected with any preexisting strand of conversation, she
proclaimed to the table: "I'd never
marry a Muslim man." "It's a little soon
for us to be discussing marriage," I
joked. But I was annoyed. (Perhaps
even disappointed, it occurs to me
now, since I still recall the incident
almost two decades later.) In the
cosmopolitan bit of pre-9/11 America
where I then lived, local norms of
politeness meant that I'd never before
heard such a remark, however widely
held the woman's sentiments might
have been.
Islamophobia, in all its guises,
seeks to minimise the importance of
the individual and maximise the
importance of the group. Yet our
instinctive stance ought to be one of
suspicion towards such endeavours.
For individuals are undeniably real.
Groups, on the other hand, are
By Ian McDonald
he first time I saw Rohan

Kanhai bat was in 1956, when
he was playing for Guyana
against a touring side and he wasn't
yet a Test player. I had recently come
to Guyana to live and work and that
night I wrote to my father in Trinidad
that I had just seen the best batsman
in the world. That marvellous first
impression has never left me.
Over the years I tried to separate
the ingredients that went into Kanhai
making this impression on me. One,
he had a natural genius for the art,
ingrained like the feel for poetry in a
poet. Two, he had the physical makeup - that combination of strength,
quickness, reach and perfect
coordination of eye and muscle that
gives rise to reflex action quick as
light. Three, before he aged he was
splendidly fit, simply the body tuned to
its highest possibilities.
whatever the circumstances eluded him at times. When winning
easily, Kanhai could get bored and not
bother very much. Perhaps that is
why his Test average is fairly ordinary
and did not end up in the high 50s. But
it did not matter because, five, he had
the willpower to perform at his best
when it really mattered.
In the batting I have seen, as in all
the great arts of sport, there are many
supreme proficiencies. There is
statistical greatness - Bradman.
There is the greatness of the man who
carries a team on his shoulders
almost alone - Headley. There is the
greatness of athletic genius - Sobers.
There is the greatness of tenacity,
persistence - Gavaskar, Boycott,
ROSHNI Issue No.83
West Indies, 1957-1975

6227 runs at 47.53 in 79 Tests
164 runs at 54.66 in seven ODIs
Chanderpaul. Is there not greatness

in elegance too - Worrell? There is the
greatness of the hammer-stroke
batsman - Walcott, Richards. There is
greatness in a crisis - Lloyd.
Greatness lies in all these names
and in a hundred more you or I could
go on naming. But for me the best I
have watched remains Rohan Kanhai
of Guyana and West Indies, the
batsman who had a good part of all
t he gre at n es ses b ut , i n t he
indefinable totalling, surpassed them
all.
Because in the end I am not even
talking about the attributes and the
proficiencies, important though they
are. There was something much more
about Kanhai's batting. It was, quite
simply, a special gift from the gods.
You could feel it charge the air
around him as he walked to the
wicket. I do not know quite how to
describe it. It was something that kept
15
the heart beating hard with a special

sort of excited fear all through a
Kanhai innings, as if something
marvellous or terrible or even sacred
was about to happen.
I have thought a lot about it. I think
it is something to do with the
vulnerability, the near madness, there
is in all real genius. It comes from the
fact that such men - the most inspired
poets, composers, artists, scientists,
saints, as well as the greatest
sportsmen - are much more open
than ordinary men to the mysterious
current that powers the human
imagination. In other words, their
psyches are extraordinarily exposed
to that tremendous, elemental force
that nobody has yet properly defined.
This gives them access to a wholly
different dimension of performance. It
also makes them much more
vulnerable than other men to
extravagant temptations. The gods
challenge them to try the impossible
and they cannot resist. This explains
the waywardness and strange
unorthodoxies that always
accompany great genius.
When Kanhai was batting, every
stroke he played, one felt as one feels
reading the best poetry of John
Donne or Derek Walcott or listening to
Mozart or contemplating a painting by
Turner or Van Gogh or trying to follow
Einstein's theory of relativity - one felt
that somehow what you were
experiencing was coming from "out
there": a gift, infinitely valuable and
infinitely dangerous, a gift given to
only a chosen few in all creation.
Ian McDonald is a poet, novelist and
columnist in Georgetown, Guyana
August 2015
he U.S. Womens National

Team set a television ratings
record during its victory in the
final of the 2015 FIFA
Womens World Cup
against Japan, making
the game the mostwatched soccer match
i n U . S . h i s t o r y.
According to FOX, the
match clocked in at just
under 23 million
viewers, an increase of
77% compared to the
f i na l of t h e 20 11
Womens World Cup, a
match between the
same teams.
FOX said the match
started out with around 16 million
viewers, but as the game progressed
and the goals added up, the count
rose to nearly 23 million. According to
FOX, the top 5 markets for the game
included (from highest to lowest):
Kansas City, St. Louis, San Diego,
Denver andAustin.
The U.S. fan support during this
years FIFA Womens World Cup was
been nothing short of spectacular,
with multiple USWNT players saying
the matches felt like they were playing
at home. Throngs of USA fans
showed up to not only the matches,
but also to fan parties, both in Canada
and stateside.
The viewership from the final
surpassed that of the famous 1999
FIFA Womens World Cup Final on
ABC, according to FOX.
Te l e m u n d o , w h i c h a l s o
broadcasted the match, stated that its
viewership reached 1.27 million
ROSHNI Issue No.83
viewers (citing Nielson ratings),

making it the highest viewed Spanishlanguage game in Womens World
Cup history. During this broadcast,

Ar ge n t i n e a n no u n ce r An d re s
Cantors famed Goooooool shout
for Carli Lloyds fantastic half court
third goal went on for just under forty
seconds.
The viewership recorded during
the Final was comparable in number
to sporting events like Game 7 of the
2014 World Series, which was
watched by around 23 million people
as well. These TV records have been
part of a wave in the U.S. this summer
in which womens soccer has
seemingly reached the pinnacle of its
existence in the American eye,
building off high fan engagement
during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Never before has womens
professional soccer been so much a
part of the nations attention.
Countless celebrities and athletes
gave their support to the team on
social media and TV throughout the
tournament. Before the WNTs
Quarterfinal game against China,
14
Amy Poehler joined Seth Meyers, her

former partner on Saturday Night
Lives Weekend Update segment
Really?? to defend and
show support for the
women competing in the
tournament.
Eclipsing any
previous soccer
broadcast, mens or
womens, this years
World Cup Final shocked
the entertainment
i n d u s t r y. T h e U . S .
Womens National Team
and fans of the sport will
now hope that this is a
trend that continues as
the sport keeps on
thriving in the U.S.n
LaZeez
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Its all about delicious food
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35 Central Ave
Albany, NY 12210
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www.eatlazeez.com
August 2015
Khadija Mughal
mar Sharif lives on as Sherif Ali

for some, Dr. Zhivago for
others Khadija Mughal recalls
his most iconic roles,
An Illustrious Career
Despite being remembered chiefly
for his roles in David Leans Lawrence
of Arabia (1962) in which he shared
screen space with the Pakistani legend
Zia Mohyeddin and Dr. Zhivago
(1965), Omar Sharif featured in as
many as sixty-nine motion pictures and
thirteen televis ion producti ons,
including memorable The Far Pavilions
(1984).
His ability to speak many different
languages lead him to act with ease in
Arabic, English and French productions
often as the foreigner. This may well
have been Sharifs highest sellingpoint, as he himself once
acknowledged.
I spoke French, Greek, Italian,
Spanish, and even Arabic with an
accent that enabled me to play the role
of a foreigner without anyone knowing
exactly where I came from, something
that has proved highly successful
throughout my career, Steven Charles
Caton quotes Omar Sharif in his
Law re nc e of Ar abi a: A F i l ms
Anthropology.
While his multi-lingual identity
helped him appear in multiple ethnic
roles, his first most memorable act
and Hollywood debut saw him play a
character much closer to home.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
With the life-long fame that
Lawrence of Arabia garnered for Sharif,
one would have imagined that the
Egyptian actor had played the films
lead. The 1962 motion picture that was
based on the life of British archaeologist
and military man, Thomas Edward
Lawrence, saw Peter OToole star in the
lead role, while Omar Sharif played
Lawrences fellow, albeit fictional,
revolutionary, SherifAli.
Many would still remember Sharifs
first few minutes as a Hollywood actor:
enshrouded in a loose black, traditional
Arabic dress, he rode down towards the
ROSHNI Issue No.83
on-looking Lawrence and his guide,

Tafas (played by Zia Mohyeddin). Tafas
hurriedly drew his gun out of the bag he
had loaded on his camels back, but a
second later he lay dead Sherif Ali
proved to be the quicker of the two.
Lawrence and Ali then go on to
develop a closer affiliation, spending
many quiet nights in deep discussion.
To be honest, Omar Sharif outdoes his
British counterpart in some of those
scenes, acting truer to his role than
OToole. It isnt then a wonder that
Sharif was nominated for the Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actor, and
won the Golden Globe Award for the
same role.
Despite the fact that many still
remember him as The Lawrence of
Arabia actor, many others would recall
another, very different performance as
his best.
Dr. Zhivago (1965)
Based on Boris Pasternaks 1957
novel of the same name, David Leans
motion picture Dr. Zhivago is one of the
few that do justice to the novel. It seems
as if Leans experiment with Omar
Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia was a
successful one for both, as the director
decided to cast him in the lead this time
around. Playing Dr. Zhivago in 1965
must have been like playing Rhett
Butler in 1939 it was a huge
responsibility. But luckily for David
Lean, Omar Sharif delivered the goods
once again.
He speaks little in the part of the
Russian doctor, Yuri Zhivago, but when
he does, his dialect appears closer to
13
Russian than most of his co-actors

(perhaps this is why he was recast as a
Russian in The Possessed, motion
picture based on Fyodor Dostoevskys
novel).Two-hundred-minutes, Dr.
Zhivago showcases a complex love
story, in which people are in love with
someone but married to someone else
quite the usual in Russian literature.
Yuri Zhivago was not an easy role to
pay. Despite his calm demeanour, Dr.
Zhivago, in turns, was a passionate
lover and a dedicated professional.
And, like Sharifs previous venture with
Lean, this time around, too, he had to
put up with a potentially overpowering
screen presence that of Academy
Award winner Julie Christie.
That Christies performance as Lara
Antipova shined, did not take anything
away from Sharifs performance as Yuri
Zhivago they were both merely
playing their unique parts, which saw
them playing excellent foils for each
other. Despite the fact that the novel,
and subsequently the film, is named
after the character, Dr. Zhivago was
underwhelming as the lead character
perhaps because Laras story was more
striking, and drew the reader (or the
viewer) towards her. It is no wonder,
then, that she is still remembered as
one of the strongest, most complex
female characters ever created.
It is, however, a wonder, that Sharif
isnt remembered so much for his
masterful portrayal of Dr. Zhivago a
much subtler and, hence, more
challenging role than he is for his for
playing Sherif Ali in Lawrence ofArabia.
Fifty-Five Years Later Hard to
Shrug the Lawrence of Arabia Tag
Despite making dozens of films some
good, like Dr. Zhivago, some not so
much, such as Genghis Khan (1965)
after his 1962 Hollywood debut, Omar
Sharif found it hard to regain the
popularity and acclaim that Lawrence of
Arabia brought. So much so, that even
in death, he is remembered as the
Lawrence ofArabia star.
Considering Sharifs performance in
later movies especially in Dr. Zhivago,
which is my personal favourite I
believe he deserves more credit than
that. Let us remember him as the man
who played a very wide variety of roles
to perfection it is an accomplishment
not many in the acting world can boastn
August 2015
Ratnadip Choudhury
At dawn in Moreh, the town
bordering India and Myanmar, visitors
will be surprised to see men in half
lungis and women in colourful sarees
with flowers tied to neatly combed plait.
Most of them head for Andala
Parameshwari temple, the only
Dravidian temple in the Northeast after
the Balaji temple at Guwahati.
They go and offer prayers and set
out on their job, a typical culture in south
India, more so in rural Tamil Nadu.
Some of them are seen conversing in
Tamil also and that is good enough to
kindle curiosity in the minds of visitors.
They pray for good cross border
business and for the long life of the
multi-cultural diaspora of Moreh. Their
forefathers had moved to the then
Burma and later repatriated to India. But
they still follow their culture.
Muhammad Usuf Salam, 73, still
dreams of his childhood in Rangoon
(now Yangon), the capital of the
erstwhile Burma (now Myanmar). He
was among thousands of people of
Indian origin who were born and
brought up in Myanmar and later
repatriated to India.
I am a Tamil. In those days Tamils
and other Indians used to rule the roost
in Burma but geo-political changes led
to a situation where people of Indian
origin could not sustain themselves
there. The Indian government assured
us all facilities, but when we, the
Burmese refugees, returned to our
native states, we were isolated, illtreated and left to fend for ourselves,
laments Salam as tears trickle down his
eyes.
In 1966, he was repatriated to India,
he was taken to Madras (now Chennai)
but he could not stay there. He always
had the urge of return to Myanmar. I
thought to myself that if I can go to
Moreh, may be I will be able to stay
connected to Myanmar, meet people
and may be some day return to
Yangon, Salam narrates.
Thus, Salam came in 1968 to
Moreh, a 110-km drive from Manipurs
capital Imphal. He was among the first
few people of Tamil origin who had
come and settled in Moreh. Initially, 40odd Tamil families, who were all
ROSHNI Issue No.83
refugees from Myanmar, settled. Soon,

every family started bringing in their
relatives. Moreh in two decades turned
into a stronghold of the Myanmar
repatriated Tamils. While in Myanmar,
we
followed our own culture and food;
even now you would find Tamil temples
in Yangon. Moreh is no different. We
have preserved our Tamilian culture
here, Moreh is more like Myanmar and
less like India, we found it easy to
survive, Salam said.
Today, in Moreh Bazar, the Tamil
domination is evident. There are eating
joints selling idlis, dosas and sambar.
The other communities living there
relish the South Indian dish.
Pongal and Diwali celebrations in
Moreh are as big as in any town in
Southern India. The Tamil girls have
their own Bharatnatyam and Odissi
dance troupes that perform across
Manipur.
The Tamil culture has been kept
alive by the Tamil Sangam, the apex
body of Tamils in Moreh. We can speak
Burmese; we also speak Meitei and
Kuki languages. Some people from
other communities can also speak Tamil
very fluently. We are trying hard to
preserve this cultural mix of Moreh,
said 46-year-old M Mahendran, born
and brought up in Moreh. His parents
have roots in Thanjavur.
The Tamils came to Moreh, a small
village dominated by Kuki tribe, after
military junta declared Indians as
foreigners after the coup in 1962. All
their businesses and properties were
seized, they had to return to India.
In our native states we found it
difficult to adjust. Some tried to sneak
into Myanmar through Moreh but were
caught and handed over to the Indian
authorities. Initially, the local authorities
did not allow them to settle in Moreh.
After much persuasion, families settled
by 1966-98, said 57-year-old KBS
Muniam, the Principal the Netaji
Memorial High School, the first school
set up by the Tamils in 1967. In
Myanmar, the Indian diaspora was
much influenced by Netaji and his long
march into India through the Indo-
12
Myanmar border in Moreh, thus they

named the school in his memory. I came
here through a relative to teach,
Muniam, who hails from the suburbs of
Chennai, adds.
The trade was illegal but it was the
lifeline of the Moreh. For everything,
people of Moreh went to the Myanmar
border town of Tamu.
For some of the Tamils, it has been
a story of rags to riches. They soon got
into smuggling. The border is porous
and the Myanmarese authorities were
corrupt. They would smuggle in Indian
goods to Tamu and bring back foreign
goods, mostly
Chinese and other South Asian
products in bulk from Myanmar. They
would then sell them for high profits.
The illegal trade ran into crores of
rupees. Soon, some Tamils got into
drugs smuggling, revealed a Tamil
elder who has a utensil shop in Moreh
Bazar.
By 1995, the Tamil population rose
to 15,000 in Moreh and thats when the
good fortunes for the Tamils ran out.
India and Myanmar legalised border
trade in Moreh in 1995, Myanmar came
up with a border trade market at
Namphalong near Moreh. This hit the
Tamil businessmen.
By that time, the Tamils had turned
Moreh into an amazing melting pot of
cultures. Many families from other
communities like the Sikhs, the Oriyas,
the Telugus, the Malayalees and the
Bengalis came and settled down at
Moreh.
The new trade regime was bad for
Indian goods and traders. It allowed the
Chinese products to take over the Tamu
market. Conflicts within Manipur and
bandhs, blockades crippled our supply
chain within India. The Chinese started
making almost everything that we used
to carry and sell inside Myanmar, says
Muhammad Tikka Khan, who sells
Madras lungis. He has his roots in
Shivamogga in Karnataka.
To make matter worst, in the mid 90s
Moreh saw ethnic clashes between the
Kuki tribals and Tamil settlers. This
resulted in yet another exodus. In
1995, we were a majority community in
Moreh. Now, about 3,000 are people
left. Many have left fearing for life and
losing their business, said K B
Subramaniam, 41, who also is the
General Secretary of th-e Moreh Border
Trade Chamber of Commercen
August 2015
Dorothy Victor
he cutting-edge
t ec h nol o gy th at has
elevated modern man to
the pinnacle of development and
progress has shrunk the world to a
global village.
From supersonic jets to highspeed personal computers, the
world is at the convenience and
fingertips of the common man.
Social media and 24X7 connectivity
have shrivelled distances and linked
the world. There never has been a
better time for a man to feel part of
the worldwide community.
Yet, there has also never been a
worse time for a man to feel
alienated living amidst a community
engrossed in self-interest. Given his
brilliance, it is a sad reality that the
contemporary man gives little or no
thought to the world around him.
As Omar N Bradley, a United
States Army field commander in
North Africa and Europe during
World War II, rightly observed, The
world has achieved brilliance without
wisdom, power without conscience.
Ours is a world of nuclear giants and
ethical infants. We know more about
war than we know about peace,
more about killing than we know
about living.
beings on a local and universal level

can undo this scenario. This requires
that all men develop into citizens of
the world.
This concept was also at the root
of our ancestors ideology.Asked
where he came from, Diogenes of
Si nope, the anc ient Gr eec e
philosopher, would reply, I am a
citizen of the world.
Poet Kaniyan Poongundran
espoused this philosophy when he
wrote, To us all towns are one, all
men our kin. Political philosopher
Thomas Paine would declare, The
world is my country, all mankind are
my brethren and to do good is my
religion.
More recently, Albert Einstein, the
German-born physicist, considered
the most influential physicist of the
20th century, described himself as a
world citizen and supported the idea
throughout his life. In still more

contemporary times, His Holiness
the Dalai Lama affirmed, We are
living in an age of globalisation. The
new motto must be: your interests
are our interests.
This is also precisely what
Epictetus, the stoic philosopher,
propagated centuries back. His
theory as interpreted by author
Sharon Lebell states: One cannot
pursue ones own highest good
without at the same time necessarily
promoting the good of others.
Seeking the very best in ourselves
means actively caring for the welfare
of other human beings. Our human
contract is not with the few people
with whom our affairs are most
immediately intertwined, nor to the
prominent, rich or well educated, but
to all our human brethren.
Courtesy: Daccan Hearld
Given the amount of strife in the

modern era, it is obvious that all men
live disconnected, discordant,
indifferent and estranged lives with
their immediate community and the
world at large. Even so,
reconnecting with our fellow human
ROSHNI Issue No.83
11
August 2015
Community memeber Mr Zahid Bhatti

with Mr Darius Shahnfar city of
Albany Treasurer
a toddler, Pierre Odilus Metivier,

testified, "Sometimes at school I can't
help but fall asleep I know I'm not
getting the most of my education."
Rosa Rivera, a soft-spoken
grandmother who supports three
generations on $8.75 an hour, after
working in fast food for several years,
explained tearfully in Spanish how
she feared that taking her children
and five grandchildren out for just one
meal could consume half a day's
wages.
An Albany Burger King worker
recalled budgeting on paychecks as

low as $30, sometimes "barely
eating" as he worked to provide care
for his wife's epilepsy and study to be
a medical assistant. "People always
say that fast-food workers should do
something with their lives, but I am
doing something. When you have
family to take care of, and you are a
man, you will do whatever it takes to
provide for your family. But I need to
survive until I can get to my career
goals, and I refuse to increase the
population of the prison system." It
wa s j ust one of ma ny gri m
calculations he had to make each
day: "I don't sleep most nights," he
added flatly.
Junior Gonzalez talked about
dealing, at 22 years old, with asthma,
bipolar disorder, thousands in student
debt, choosing between paying car
insurance or rent, and forget about
money for medication-on top of an
expired nursing certification: "I want to
go back to nursing, butI can barely
pay for toilet paper, so I can't pay for a
nursing license." His bank balance
that day, he said, was $34: "I just got
paid. That's ridiculous."
The impossible mathematics of
low-wage life seems even more
absurd now since Los Angeles just
raised its city and county minimum
wage floors, following similar
initiatives in Seattle and San
Francisco and many others pending
around the country.
Charles D. Mayron, MD, FACS

7D Johnson Road
Latham, NY 12110
Cell Phone: (518) 677-8233

E-Mail: capitalretina@aol.com
ROSHNI Issue No.83
Tel: (518) 785-1100

Fax: (518) 785-1109
10
The details of the anticipated

wage hike, including which outlets
would be subject to the higher payscale, are still unclear. But advocates
hope the process will eventually spur
lawmakers to raise the state minimum
wage, which would provide
consistency across different sectors.
(Although the Board, facing public
pressure over fast-food labor
conditions, was convened to deal with
this sector specifically, a broad wage
hike would likely have a ripple effect.)
This might also encourage some
franchise operators to partner with the
Fight for 15, to collectively pressure
the fast food corporations to stop
squeezing operating costs for its
franchisees, which could enable
workers to be paid more.
Anita Halasz, executive director of
Long Island Jobs with Justice, says
the Long Island wage board hearing
shed light on a hidden reality in New
York's suburban communities, which
few associate with chronic poverty but
are nonetheless rife with inequality. "I
think this is shifting the overall
consciousness of what it means to be
a low-wage worker," she says, "and
has helped many people recognize,
through the testimonies of fast-food
workers, that workers who are
working in low wage jobs, struggling
to survive, is an epidemic."
Matt Ryan, executive director of
ALIGN NY says if Albany takes the
next logical step and raises the
statewide minimum wage for all
workers-it shouldn't be politicians who
take the credit: "The only reason
we're even in this situation right
now is because of the courageous
workerswho've been striking year
in and year out, community allies
who've been on the front line with
them, and the pressure they've been
able to bring to bear."
At the end of the day, after hearing
the stories of New Yorkers wrestling
with the hardest choices, the Wage
Board had a shamefully easy final
decision to make-yes, they deserve
moren
August 2015
By Michelle Chen
hough New York's lawmakers

are infamous for their ethical
failings, Albany is about to do
the right thing for once: serve the
state's fast-food workers some longoverdue justice. Governor Andrew
Cuomo's Wage Board, a threemember panel representing
business, labor and the public, has for
weeks heard gut-wrenching
testimonies from workers and labor
advocates at hearings across the
state, and is now expected to
recommend raising the minimum
hourly wage for fast-food workers to
$15. That will impact some 180,000
people currently earning around
$16,000 a year doing strenuous, dirty
work in drive-throughs and greasy
kitchens. The governor is then
expected to make final approval to set
a new sector-specific wage-a unique
mechanism that, similar to President
Obama's recent executive actions on
federal worker wages, can bypass the
legislature. The measure marks a
major milestone for the Fight for 15
movement, which started in New York
over two years ago when a small
group of workers decided to walk off
the job.
In recent weeks, workers aired
words of pride and despair; they
cheered each other when they started
getting nerves, having developed
camaraderie after participating in
strikes to demand a fair wage and the
right to form a union.
At a June hearing in Albany, some
ROSHNI Issue No.83
of the poorest workers, in one of the

richest states, related stories like
being stuck working a grill because
they couldn't afford to finish their
degree. A young man talked of wiring
money home to the Dominican
Republic to support relatives, and
begging for train fare just to get to
work.
Yet, while New York's current
minimum wage of $8.75 an hour
clearly isn't enough to live on (many
fast-food workers rely on public
benefits), the demand for decent pay
has met with fierce corporate
resistance.
Some industry representatives
have warned that raising wages too
quickly could lead to job losses, or if
the standard was too strict, could
force "mom and pop" eateries out of
businesses. But the voices with the
strongest resonance articulated the

simple luxuries that a living wage
could bring: a single day off, or a
chance to move out of the homeless
shelter.
Some employers actively
advocate for a policy to push wages
up across the state. Amy Collins,
owner of New Shelves Publishing
Services stated that she paid her own
workers a starting wage of $15 an
hour, so the massive multinationals of
the fast food industry had no excuse:
"If I can afford it, so can McDonald's."
The workers could certainly teach
their bosses about careful budgeting.
Parents packed cheap burgers all day
and returned home without money or
time to cook a decent meal for their
families. Students shuttled from one
job to another until they were too
exhausted to study. A young father of
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August 2015
Mohammed Fahad Al-Harthi
ith Iran publicly meeting

the country it has called
the Great Satan, and the
West aiming to win contracts for
Iranian projects, today is very
dissimilar to yesterday. The region,
known for its never-ending wars and
conflicts, is taking a new shape.
The US is pursuing a new and
different policy in the region. From
being the one lobbying for an Iranian
boycott, the US is now trying to
convince the world of the wisdom of
the nuclear deal both at the UN and
ultimately in the US Congress. This is
politics.
These developments, however,
leave the Arabs facing a new reality.
Iran, a country with influence in some
Arab countries, has waged proxy
wars in the region. Though it
struggled under the weight of
sanctions, it still managed to carry out
its expansionist policies and may now
be poised for more of the same.
The region is at a crossroads. The
question is not whether the deal will
pass but rather what will result from it.
Despite the feelings and desires of
individual states, the deal ushers in a
new political reality in the region.
Iran is an important country with
an influential role and it is a mistake to
look at our relationship through the
prism of a Sunni-Shiite divide or even
an Arab-Persian conflict. Analysts,
both good and ill-intentioned, try to
promote these ideas but the
difference between Arab countries
and Iran is a mere political dispute.
Once Hassan Rouhani came to
power as president, he sent positive
ROSHNI Issue No.83
signals suggesting a different political

orientation. Yet, these signals were
not translated into political reality in
the region. The nuclear deal is one of
the Iranian presidents most important
achievements but there remains an
ove rarchi ng a nd un answ ered
question: Is Hassan Rouhani the
decision-maker or does political
power rest with the so-called supreme
leader Ali Khamenei, thus limiting the
presidents options?
In many situations, Iran opted for
what it saw as political realism
whenever necessary. Ayatollah
Khomeinis description of accepting
the cease-fire with Iraq as drinking
poison eliminated the arguments
made by him and his followers that a
cease-fire would never happen. The
facts on the ground, however,
changed the realities.
Iran today has a precious
opportunity to set a new policy in the
region. Past experience has shown
that wars and interventions only led to
tragic realities producing terror and
chaos in the region. This opportunity
requires careful consideration and
experimenting with different political
possibilities and, above all, it requires
courage and taking the initiative by all
in the region.
If the region is able to cooperate
for development and building, and
use its resources for the happiness of
its people, its ability to compete in the
world will be much different from what

it is today. It may seem that this is a
modern type of pragmatic political
utopianism, but these are the same
incentives that made frenemies
share a room for weeks in order to
reach an agreement that was once
deemed impossible.
The Gulf has a different political
reality and so political work should
move to a new level. With the new
facts, international calculations have
changed and things are not the same
anymore. It would therefore be wrong
to stick to the same old policies in the
face of the new reality.
The Gulf states need to strengthen
their political interdependence. The
success of the Gulf states in
Operation Decisive Storm can be a
good foundation for unified political
positions and homogeneous political,
economic and military actions. Saudi
Arabias recent choices, linking
mutual interests with those of
countries such as Russia, illustrate
how interests drive politics.
The Gulf states combined have a
huge potential, strong political power
and a dynamic international impact. It
is vital to strengthen their internal
structures in order to succeed
externally. The new political reality is
not necessarily negative though it is
different. In light of the changes, there
are opportunities that necessitate
new vision and quick decisionsn
Your targeted market is one step away

e-mail : info@roshnionline.com
or call:518-596-6911
8
August 2015
By Dr Farid A Malik
ho will build a Naya Pakistan?

Will it be Kaptaan or Shaitan or
Sharif (Raheel)? Shiateen
consists of status-quo politicians who
were elected through manipulated
ballots since 1985 and were then part of
the governments both civil and military.
Naya Pakistan does not suit them, as
they are parasites of the old system,
whereas Kaptaan launched his Tehreeke-Insaf as a party of social justice and
change about two decades ago. Till
October 2011 the party remained pure
and honest, free from negative
influences and poised to build Naya
Pakistan.
When the status quo Shaiteen
started to join the party, voices were
raised against their inclusion. Being a
Kaptaan he insisted that the new comers
will play by his rules and follow the
established party guidelines. Over the
years PTI had developed a culture of
giving not taking, honesty, integrity and
merit were deeply engrained in the party.
Unity conventions were held to
assimilate the old and the new but it did
not work. Comrade Ahsan Rashid as
President Punjab played a pivotal role in
organizing the party, while Imran was the
Mao-the-Tung he was the Chou-en-Lai
of the movement.
The Inter Party Election (IPE) just
before the General Elections (GE) in
May 2013 was the crucial test. The
Shiateen committed gross
irregularities. The party founder and
stalwart like Comrade Ahsan, was
defeated through manipulation. Instead
of a hue and cry he quietly accepted the
verdict and went home gracefully in the
grand tradition of the party. When the
noises became louder, Kaptaan
appointed an inquiry commission under
Ta s n e e m N o o r a n i S a h i b , w h i c h
confirmed foul play and recommended
formation of a tribunal to clean the mess.
A tribunal was formed under Justice
Retd.Wajiuddin Ahmed who ordered a
re-election and dissolution of the elected
set up. Kaptaan accepted the decision,
and appointed Noorani Sahib as, Chief
Election Commissioner (CEC)but reappointed the Shaiteen to continue till
the next IPE. Objections were raised
against this decision, which were over
ruled by the Kaptaan. The Shiateen of
Status-quo, now hijacked what had
ROSHNI Issue No.83
started as a movement for a Naya

Pakistan.
With a bulging youth population
close to 60% a Naya Pakistan is unstoppable. While the Shiateen are
caught in their web of narrow selfinterests, the Khakis under General
Raheel Sharif have under gone a
transformation. The establishment
stands divided. Operation clean up has
already started. The Shiateen are
teaming up to put up a joint resistance.
Sharif (Nawaz) is trying to strike a
balance to play on both sides. Due to the
influence of Shiateen within its fold, PTI
is conceding its moral high ground while
Sh arif (Rahe el) is gai nin g it.
Kaptaansdharna has highlighted the
election irregularities which is a big
contribution for credible elections in the
future.
Now the electoral process is on the
mend. In the 1970s the Khakis ensured
an honest electoral exercise, the only
one to date. Credible leadership can only
emerge through free and fair elections.
Hopefully the Khakis will play their role in
ensuring an honest ballot this time
around.
Keeping up with the honorable
traditions of PTI, all elected individuals
within PTI should honour the verdict of
the Election Tribunal and resign
voluntarily. A neutral care taker set up
should be entrusted with the task of
holding a credible IPE paving the way for
a unified front in GE against the forces of
status-quo. Kaptaan can then play his
Captains innings for Naya Pakistan.
The Shiateen cannot help him in this
crusade.
Khakis belong in their barracks but
with the Shiateen around, their return is
being delayed. Zarb-e-Azab is now
moving inwards to combat economic
strangulation. The Military-Mulla-Mufad
alliance has been shattered. Normalcy is
being restored both on the borders and
within. Karachi is a test case. Once the
Shiateen are driven out of the
commercial hub of the country, the
model will be expanded to other areas
paving the way for the much needed
nation building. There has to be a
realignment of priorities. The common
man has suffered enough. His basic
needs have remained unfulfilled while
the loot and plunder by theShaiteen has
continued unabated, in Naya Pakistan

this much change.
The very concept of a Naya
Pakistan is losing clarity mainly because
of the propaganda of status-quo
Shaiteen who claims all is well. The
Pakistan in which we opened our eyes is
not the same in which our children were
born and live. There has been a serious
derailment. As the first born free
generation it is our duty to return the
original, Asli Pakistan to our coming
generations. Perhaps the Kaptaan and
Sharif (Raheel) have the same vision but
the Shiateen approach is to stall change
at all costs.
The Shiateen within PTI are trying to
corner the Kaptaan. The party rank and
file remains committed to a Naya
Pakistan but the individuals that
surround him despite marching orders of
the election tribunal continue to create
confusion. In Naya Pakistan there will
be no room for Shiateen as they were
directly responsible for the derailment of
Quaids Pakistan.
By refusing to attend Zardaris Iftar,
Kaptaan has sent a clear message to the
external Shiateen but how about the
internal ones who surround him. When
will they get the shut-up call? Sharif
(Nawaz) by accepting the invitation has
shown his true colours. Birds of a feather
flock together.
Like the country PTI too needs a
cleanup operation like Zarb-e-Azab.
Raheel Sharif is moving in the right
direction leaving the Kaptaan to protect
his party Shiateen. In the past the
Khakis role in the derailment of Quaids
Pakistan was significant but now they
have shed their dirty laundry and realigned their approach while the
Kaptaan has been unable to do that.
Leaders must have a broad vision to
chart untested waters, they are required
to act not react or protect the unwanted.
Despite his credibility the Kaptaan is
losing his grip over a Naya Pakistan.
The thrust and reachable target is
slipping due to a handful of status-quo
individuals that surround him. For the
sake of Naya Pakistan he has to keep
PTI intact which is becoming
increasingly difficult in the absence of
merit performance and fair play.
Shiateen play by their ownrules; foul
play is their way of life. Hopefully GE will
result in clean and credible leadership in
the country who will then lay the
fou ndat ions of Naya P akist an
hopefullywith the Kaptaan but certainly
the Shiateen will be outn
August 2015
By Mohiuddin Aazim
ll state institutions of Pakistan

are not on the same page-if
that strictly implies they are
engaged in doing exactly those things
individually which, when combined, is
bound to produce a collectively
desired result.
But there exists now a greater
understanding between political and
military leadership on how to tackle
terrorism. After teaching Pakistani
Taliban a lesson or two the hard way,
the office of prime minister, foreign
office and GHQ made an impressive
move at Muree talks. The very fact
that the world, particularly the old
player USA and relatively new player
China, gave a silent nod to Pakistan to
host talks between Afghan Taliban
and Afghan national government and
play its due role in helping them
achieve reconciliation, shows that
understanding between Pakistan's
political and military leadership is
paying off dividends.
Operation Zarb-e-Azab has
entered its second phase. In the first
phase, our soldiers attacked terrorists
with their full might, and now terror
financing is being tackled quite
seriously.
Details of the drive against terror
financing would soon be flooding
media outlets, if we believe what
security officials say in their private
meetings.
They also say that the
ongoing anti-corruption campaign is
less ferocious than desired only
because it's easier to deal with it in the
ROSHNI Issue No.83
context of terror financing but "very

d i f f i c u l t i n re l a t i o n t o g oo d
governance."
The concept and demand of good
governance is gaining currency in
Pakistan and our politicians seem to
have realized it. But the problem is,
they find it too difficult to pursue the
goals of good governance for fear of
losing something. If political parties
that are in the federal or provincial
governments go for good
governance, cracks will appear in
their ranks, one big source of political
funding (read corruption) will be
chocked-and it is more difficult to gain
political mileage out of the things that
ought to be done to make governance
the first priority. Military leadership
knows it all. That is a one of the many
reasons why they have been resisting
the temptation of dislodging political
setup. Our generals know that
politicians now have just two options:
either they will have to deliver good
governance or they will be rejected by
the people. Today's Pakistani youth
is different than that of 1990s. Young
people, armed with the modern tools
of swifter and wider communications,
are more confident, more assertive.
They'll bring the corrupt and inefficient
political leadership to its knees when
the time comes. This is the core belief
of Pakistani establishment. But the
problem politicians have started
openly hinting that the same youth
isn't also ready to put up with any,
even disguised, mischief of the

establishment itself. So, politicians,
too, are growing less and less afraid
of the establishment and more and
more confident that only People of
Pakistan now have the ability to let
democracy flourish or get rid of it. If
we see the latest happenings in the
light of the foregoing, things make
sense. See how PPP is, at the same
time, bothered with growing military
influence in the province as well as
contended with it. See how PML (N) is
trying to tell the nation time on daily
basis that the political and military
leadership "is on the same page"
instead of worrying about how the
military leadership is visibly gaining
more grounds in real decision
making. And, see how MQM is
protesting against what it perceives
as "nefarious designs of the
establishment" to discredit the party
but at the same time behaving amidst
the most challenging situations.
And, finally, see how generals are
getting ever-growing air time on our
TV channels, rebuffing politicians
when necessary, flushing out criminal
elements from within political partiesbut at the same time sending quite
positive sig nals about thei r
unwavering faith in the future of
Pakistan's democracy.
Also see
how our bureaucracy, backed by
military through apex committees, is
trying to assert itself but only to the
extent of doing right things even at the
cost of earning politicians' (fast
weakening) wrath-but refraining from
conspiring against the political
system itself.
So, signs of realistic thinking are
emerging. And, we've started getting
some dividends of realism, toon
The writer is a Karachi-based freelance
journalist. aazim.mohiuddin@gmail.com
August 2015
Pakistani boy becomes worlds

youngest MS PowerPoint Specialist
ONDON - A six-year-old British

Pakistani boy who became the
youngest MS Office
professional by passing the Microsoft
certification in MS Office 2013 has
now set another record by becoming
the youngest person in the world by
passing the MS PowerPoint Specialist
examination.
Muhammad Humza Shahzad,
from Londons East Croydon, scored
850 points out of 1,000 while the
required passing score for the
Microsoft PowerPoint is 700. He took
the exam at the Microsoft Institute in
London.
According to the report card,
Humza received 90% in creating and
managing presentations; 50 percent
in inserting and formatting shapes and
slides; 67 percent in creating slide
content; 100 percent in applying
transition and animations and 100
percent in managing multiple
presentations.
According to the media reports,
Humza Shahzad said that the MS
PowerPoint is a complete
presentation graphics package, which
help s in the produ ction o f

professional-looking presentation.
Humza Shahzads father Asim
Shahzad, who is an IT professional,
explained that the Microsoft Office
specialist exams are taken in a
simulated environment. Youre asked
to show the ability to do a series of
tasks or complete a project through a
set of specific tasks.
The old system of memorising
answers and ticking boxes is no more
applicable. He said that he did not
teach Humza even a single thing and
Humza himself learned everything
from this new software and is now
extremely efficient in this tool.
Management at the Best Training
Institute in Streatham, London, where
Humza sat for these exam said he
was very impressed with the
exceptional abilities of this kid. Steve
Herbert, who runs the centre, said, It
is normally something adults do if they
want to progress their careers. It is
very impressive.
Humza shared his feeling that now
he likes to work in this Microsoft
products as much as he likes playing
games and watching video

games.Humzas parents are overly
joy about their sons achievement and
they are glad that their son has
achieved something that has a place
in history at a very young age.
Humzas mother Seemab Asim
said she was proud that Humza had
attained these records not only for
himself but for the whole of Pakistan.
She said, He is known as a Pakistani
heritage child and thats a matter of
pride and dignity for everyone. It is
important we celebrate our high
achievers and heroes who make
distinctions. We have the example of
Arfa Karim, the computer prodigy from
Faisalabad, who at the age of 9
became the youngest Microsoft
Certified Professional. Unfortunately,
Arfa is no more with us, but there are
more computer prodigies out there
who are making their country proud.
We should celebrate all of them.
Humza moved to England in 2011
when his father got a job as a Senior
Development Manager at a
multinational IT company in London.
The family now lives permanently in
East Croydon, Londonn
wheat and gluten free products

77 4th Street
Troy, NY 12180
(518)271-7299
(518)271-0974
ROSHNI Issue No.83
644 Loudon Road

Latham, NY 12110
(518)782-5233
(518)782-5234
August 2015
US and Iran makes historic deal

W
ASHINGTON, DC - The
United States, Iran and five
other world powers have
announced a historic deal to
dramatically curb Iran's nuclear
program in exchange for easing
international sanctions on Iran.
President Obama announced that
Donald Trump
still on top
WASHINGTON, DC - A new
national poll by YouGov.com says
Donald Trump is the frontrunner
among Republican Presidential
candidates.
Fifteen percent of GOP voters
back Trump. Former Florida Gov. Jeb
Bush and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
tie for second with eleven percent
voter back-upn
ROSHNI Issue No.83
the U.S., Iran, and the international

community have reached a historic
agreement to prevent Iran from
developing a nuclear
weaponpotentially setting tthe
Re-Elect Dan McCoy

as County Executive
ALBANY, NY - Primary election
will be held on September 10 this
year. Friends of the County Executive
Daniel McCoy, request voters to reelect Dan McCoy for the second term.
A group of supporters from the
Friends of McCoy group believe that
McCoy is the best candidate for the
County Executive position because
without raising taxes he protects
residents rights and has worked
alongside Sheriff Apple to convert
Albany county into as peaceful as
evern
parties on a path to ending decades of

hostility.
The deal is huge and still has to be
reviewed by Congress. Over the next
60 days, the President's office is going
to have to campaign really hard to
make sure the Senate and House
don't squander this chancen
Albany County
sergeant resigns
ALBANY, NY - An Albany County
sheriff's sergeant who was facing
termination for his controversial use of
a Taser on a teenager abruptly
resigned last week.
The sergeant, Vincent P. Igoe Jr.,
was suspended 11 months ago after a
police car taped recording video
showed him firing a Taser at a Colonie
teenager who was kneeling in front of
police officers with his hands on his
head following a high-speed chasen
August 2015
R SHNI
TABLE OF CONTANTS
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ROSHNI Issue No.83
August 2015
"In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide.

Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate...
look to his character.
Daniel P. McCoy
ALBANY COUNTY EXECUTIVE

PRIMARY DAY,
SEPTEMBER
10, 2015
PAID FOR BY FRIENDS OF DAN MCCOY


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