Atlanta: We have a Problem

I never thought that shortage of over priced sugar syrup can be such a national emergency!

Finally the reason!

So this might explain why India's population is so high and still growing!

There are Brave (Wo)Men Too

My impression of Pakistani civil society is mostly of a society in denial and worst actually sympathetic to militants. Witness Imran Khan and so many other politicians who one would have expected to be liberals who actually support Jihadists overtly. That does not take away the fact that there are voices of dissent who see this as in fact a fight between obscurantism and liberal ethos, between warped notions of morality and a right to freedom for each, between good and evil.
Given the state of Pakistan I think most of the people who are actively espousing looking inwards are probably much more brave that most of us outsiders realize. Compare say the Indian media with Pakistan media. While by and large our media is free, often critical of government, I have not really seen too many biggies actually take on government when we invariably always end up blaming Pakistan. How many of our media groups actually champion the cause of human rights?
On the other hand I find Dawn almost always balanced. look here and here. The News is again fairly well balanced. And given the state of Pakistani society which has probably genuine sympathy to Jihadi groups, a super powerful security establishment that the rest of the world justifiably believe to be Jihadist and terrorists itself, and an executive that is at best ineffectual, on an average complicit with terrorists, it takes a lot of courage to point the accusatory finger inwards.
I wish we too have more media houses becoming as brave. In terms of individuals we all have heard of Asma Jehangirs of Pakistan and many activists within India so there we can still take hope that individuals in India still bravely battle the system, but in terms of mainstream coverage I think our media, especially TV is hopelessly out of tune with reality. Except from page3 kind of reporting there is very little actual news coverage. The the coverage often reeks of agenda.
Times Now - channel I earlier liked because well they did try and cover news now reminds me of Fox news of US. While yes a whole host of India and world's problems emanate from Pakistan, can we actually have a more nuanced discussion rather than simply calling them liars and duplicitous over and over again? CNN-IBN the other channel that I watch for news is somewhat fairer but again I do not see the kind of reporting that say Geo TV (that broke the story of Kasab's family being in Pakistan and first shots of his being Pakistani) does in Pakistan. Other Indian new channels are a travesty of news where breaking news might be a detailed coverage of what Rakhi Sawant wore to a party!
So long as there are these brave souls in Pakistan who risk life to show reality to Pakistani society there is still hope. Now to wish the same for India.

Terror Attack on SriLankan Cricket Team

Another horror story coming in from Pakistan. While some comments on telly were somber, at least 1 gentleman from establishment was blaming India stating something on the lines of "they are showing us what you can do in Mumbai we can do in here" (more here). I'd say an interesting though inadvertent admission they did something in Mumbai.
Even some comments from Pakistan on this attack from civil society blaming India. When will they get their head out of sand? If India were to attack, they'd have attacked the army or the government. What benefit will India get in harming Sri Lankan cricketers?
Its this state of denial that is Pakistan's biggest stumbling block in fighting terror. Until Pakistanis realize the enemy is within they wont be able to counter it. And they may realize it too late!
One of the telly channels had an interesting idea. They observed that were the Pakistani agencies complicit in the attack? Given that all assailants escaped and they showed visuals of Policemen handling weapons recovered from crime scene without gloves on. It was my own first thought on watching the news early in the day on CNN as it broke. Policeman picking up a pistol with naked hands and feeling it around. And my thought was now the only fingerprints would be of police investigators that they will get.
Its intriguing. What if the telly channel claim was true and the aim was to take the team hostage? i can imagine the grenade going under the bus, over it as 2 coincidences. The Pakistani team not traveling with them another co-incidence. Why so few policemen accompanying the team?
could it be that the aim was to kidnap the team and ask for Kasab's release in exchange? India would have been in a bind jeopardizing its relations with Sri Lanka if they refused and get a lot of bad publicity worldwide. If they acquiesced, a lot of case against Kasab and Pakistan would have been weakened. ISI should surely have loved that outcome!
While I confess its mostly conspiracy theory though not entirely straining credulity, its pretty much in a way what many in Pakistan seem to postulate what it comes to terror attacks in external countries blamed on Pakistani groups.What is really sad is that given the history of Pakistani establishment duplicity(especially the armed forces), this conspiracy theory might not be so far off the mark.