By Hashim bin Rashid

Sunday, 08 May, 2011

Illustrated & D

esigned by Babur Saghir

The covertoperation to kill Bin Laden in idyllic hill station and military town Abbotabad exposes the double-standards of both the United States of America andthe Pakistanimilitary

Osama:

Bin Laden was dead. And then an attack in Abbotabad gave him life.

The last time they announced he had died there was nothing

thrilling about his death. And nothing mysterious, nothing bizarre either. It was, as it were, a rather anti-climactic end to the man’s life. It was a death that no one was going to remember.

This death, however, is something different. It has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood movie – or, indeed, a grand conspiracy. In fact it is likely both shall be made out of it. Rather – both versions are already in the pipeline.

‘Justice has been done,’ Obama said. ‘Justice was not done,’ we must bravely stand up and remind him.

The world’s biggest superpower has a beautiful way of doing away with due process and we must not let it flaunt its power. But – with what force shall we be able to resist?

But what if Osama was amongst us

And what are we to think if Osama was indeed in our midst? What if Osama was indeed housed up in a compound a 10-minute walk away from the PMA Kakul?

And what of the inability of the much-vaunted Pakistani military being unable to trace four unknown helicopters entering such high security territory and able to pull off a 45 minute operation?

It is not absolutely inconceivable that Osama was lodged at the compound in question. The compound features as an a n o m a l y on the

landscape of Bilal Town and its residents were said to be rather quiet and distant in their ways.

Let us be more frank about the role of our intelligence agencies: that they did not know is not excusable.

Moreover, it is clear that the CIA did not share information with the ISI fearing a tip off and therefore did not inform them of the operation.

Only lately did reports surface that there were suggestions in the American officialdom that the ISI be categorized as a terrorist organization. One thing is certain, throughout Pakistan’s much maligned history the role of the ISI has been ambivalent. Under the guise of a convoluted ‘doctrine of national security,’ intelligence agencies through political interventions have blocked progressive, democratic movements amongst the Pakistani people.

What we do know is that the military and the intelligence agencies crackdown on their own people more soundly and effectively that it does on external elements. This must come to a STOP. But that said, what is not understandable is why Pakistani leaders and army officials have not asked for public proof of Osama’s death. This is not a conspiracy theorists question, for sure. It is the valid response of an accused: I shall agree I was hiding a wanted man if you show me proof.

The relevant proof of O s a m a ’ s d e a t h ,

at this moment, is missing. A ghost has been constructed and found in our living room.   No one ever saw him there and, as far as we understand, he shall never be seen again.

But he was there. And our leaders have quietly surrendered to this position.

This is again not to suggest Osama was not the one nabbed in the compound.  The statements being attributed to his wife and daughter, now in the custody of the agencies, do appear sound enough and appear to confirm Bin Laden was indeed present in the compound.

And why are they picking up locals now

And while we do speak of those in military custody it is, again, damning and deeply unacceptable that after Osama was purportedly killed and it was revealed that the Pakistani intelligence agencies were unaware of his being at the compound, locals of Bilal Town have begun to be picked up.

The neighbour, the milkman, the lady health workers, the house

contractor are amongst those brought in

for questioning. Amongst these the neighbour

went missing on Monday night and till the filling of this article

the review

Dead or brought to life

3 Adopting a balanced view 4 Travels w

ith a maestro

“A middle-aged nonentity, a political failure outstripped by history – by the millions of Arabs demanding freedom and democracy in the Middle East – died in Pakistan yesterday. And then the world went mad.”

–Robert Fisk for the Independent, Bin Laden died a failure, outstripped by history

On International Dance Day last week, the Pakistan National Council of Arts held a celebratory evening of dance interspersed with music interludes and classical singing

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An evening of splendid dance and music

Adopting a balanced viewBy Khawaja Manzar Amin

The Pakistan National Council of the Arts celebrated the International Dance Day last week in Lahore by holding an evening of dance interspersed

with music interludes and classical singing. Speaking at the occasion Tauqeer

Nasir, DG of the PNCA stressed that the government wanted to present a true picture of our rich cultural heritage and thereby presenting a soft image of Pakistan to counteract the adverse projection that has hounded the country these past few years. In a crowded hall which amongst other included such notables as Gen. and Begum Jehangir Karamat, Mr Sartaj Aziz and Ms Nasira Iqbal, the National Performing Arts Group of Lahore presented a variety

of dances that were a small part of their repertoire.

Dance has often been treated as the stepchild and not been given the patronage or importance that it deserves. All this was set aside as the audience witnessed a show that left them in a daze. “We didn’t expect to see a show like this!” said one member of the audience. “The quality of the dances and the presentation was slick and highly entertaining. It was wonderful to see our dances projected so beautifully,” said another. “The costumes were superb and enhanced the presence of the dancers” was another comment.

The evening began with a traditional classical dance in Kathak, presented by a group of dancers. Known for its intricate footwork and energetic movements, this set the stage for the evening to follow with its flawless presentation. The variety of dances

shown gave the audience a taste of different flavours. There came a dance set to Amir Khusru’s immortal Sufi classic ‘Aaj Rang Hai’ in which the mood was totally changed and the sufi mystic mood prevailed. There were also presentations of melodious songs rendered in dance. The all time favourite of Mme. Nur Jehan and Ustad Amanat Ali singing Piya Nahin Aye was brought to life by first the rendering of the song danced as a duet and then followed by the chorus. This was done in pure Kathak style and was poignant in its rendering. Other songs which were shown in dance were Nasir Kazmi’s ghazal ‘dil men ek leher si uthi hai abhi’ and the Punjabi lyrical song ‘bari thane chade aa’ showing the maiden waiting for her beloved to return.

The love story of Anarkali and Prince Saleem was also presented in a dramatic manner. Danced in Kathak to Raag Darbari

this related the well-known love story and the treachery of Dilaram which led to the tragic ending.

To show their versatility this Group has also ventured into Fusion and presented items in which classical dance merges in with Rock. This was specially enjoyed by the young members of the audience.

The musical interludes were enjoyable, in particular Muzaffar Akbar Khan on the sitar and Jari on the tabla were greatly appreciated. Nayab, son of Ustad Hamid Ali Khan of Patiala gharana sang a classical raag followed by a ghazal.

A word about the National Performing Arts Group, Lahore – this was formed by the PNCA in 2006 and has performed at state functions and internationally. It has gained recognition for its performances and has received good notices whenever it has had the opportunity to present its

By Zeeshan Haroon

Lieven has made a genuine effort to ascertain the ground realities in Pakistani society, its weaknesses and strengths, and what makes the country tick

The post 9/11 world again thrust Pakistan into the global spotlight, this time as a rather unwilling US ‘ally’ in the still ongoing war on terror in Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Since Pakistan’s support was deemed essential for any chance of success in Afghanistan,

the country attracted a horde of commentators from all over the western world. Overnight, Pakistan became a major issue in the western media, and spawned a host of so-called experts, mostly neo-cons, ‘chicken hawks’, the ‘Talmudists’ with their own axe to grind and sundry other prophets of doom and gloom.

Their views ranged from the now clichéd ‘failed, state’, ‘failing state’, ‘most dangerous country in the world’, to the US Army counterinsurgency ‘specialist’, whose name we forget, who even placed a time limit on the country’s imminent fall to the Swat Taliban: six months! It was the old ‘Jimmy Carter sandwich – peanut butter with a lot of baloney. ‘

Anatol Lieven, a former correspondent for The Times in Pakistan, has been somewhat more charitable towards the beleaguered country in his book. He has made a genuine effort to ascertain the ground realities in Pakistani society, its weaknesses and strengths, and what makes the country tick. When he writes of its many internal problems he does not ignore its native resilience. He has conducted a thorough research in all the provinces, interviewed the country’s establishment elites and interacted considerably with the common man, met eminent personalities both secular and religious, analysed the working of the political parties, and not allowed the usual judgmental bias to creep in and colour his narrative.

Where Lieven criticises, and one must admit that there is plenty to fault in our at times insensitive and cruel society, he invariably qualifies it with a positive remark, keeping alive the element of hope and optimism for the future provided the injustices are corrected with a strong

political resolve. Indeed, he has come up with many insights which are novel even for the local reader and brought a welcome fresh approach to the contemporary writing on Pakistan.

The format of the book reflects the author’s ambition to cover the subject in its entirety. The book is divided into four parts:

Part One (Land, People and History): This contains the important section on ‘Understanding Pakistan’ and a not quite necessary chapter on ‘The Struggle for Muslim South Asia’, which one has been through umpteen times.

Part Two (Structures): This includes detailed chapters on Justice, Religion, The Military and Politics. Here one feels that an important element, the bureaucracy, has been ignored. It certainly warranted an inclusion not only for its achievements in the tough early years of Pakistan, but also its later politicization and corruption, which have also contributed in bringing the state to its present sorry pass.

Part Three (The Provinces): This includes separate chapters on Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and (sic) The Pathans. Many little known facts about Balochistan, its demography, the Baloch insurgency and the mineral resources of the province have been revealed. For instance, regarding the latter, the author states, ‘…Having talked to geologists, the truth appears to me to be that Balochistan probably has very little oil, and few gas fields left to discover. What it does have however is very large amounts of copper together with lesser amounts of gold... informed (as opposed to mythical) estimates for the Reko Diq field… range up to 16 million tonnes of pure copper and 21 million ounces of gold, which if developed would make Pakistan one of the world’s largest producers of copper (though still far behind Chile), and a serious gold producer’.

Part Four (The Taleban): This contains the genesis (if that is the correct word) and growth of the movement which has become Pakistan’s implacable foe, its leadership and the reasons for its short lived success in certain areas of Pakistan. It contains two illuminating chapters, ‘The Pakistan Taleban’ and ‘Defeating the Taleban’. The writer

debunks the ‘failed state’ chorus by quoting the example of the National Finance Commission Award of 2010 which provided balanced state revenues to the poorer provinces : ‘It demonstrated that Pakistani democracy, the Pakistan political process and Pakistan federalism retain a measure of vitality, flexibility and the ability to compromise’.

The author cautions that ‘western pressure… does not

Title: Pakistan – A Hard Country Author: Anatol Lieven Publishers: Allen Lane (2011)Sole Distributor: Readings, 12-K Gulberg, Lahore. Price: £16.99 (Special Pakistani price Rs. 1295). Paper Back: Pages: 592

On International Dance Day last week, the Pakistan National Council of Arts held a celebratory evening of dance interspersed with music interludes and classical singing

An evening of splendid dance and music

Adopting a balanced view Random readings

By Syed Afsar Sajid

A trio of books on diverse subjects

Three books on diverse subjects have lately appeared in the market. The first relates to an ‘ethnographic narrative’ of its German author’s five-night stay at the shrine of one of

the most popular Sufi saints in Pakistan, Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (1178-1274) in Sehwan Sharif, Sindh in connection with an annual festival held in October, 2003. The second book is a treatise on how to write/compile research papers whereas the third publication comprises Urdu scholar Dr Saadat Saeed’s short English essays on diverse literary topics in the post-colonial scenario.

At the Shrine of the Red SufiThe author Professor Jurgen Wasim

Frembgen is Chief Curator of the Oriental Department at the Ethnology Museum in Munich and teaches Islamic Studies at the Munich University. He is also a visiting professor at the Quaid-i-Azam University,  Islamabad, National College of Arts, Lahore and the Ohio State University, Columbia (USA). He has been conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Pakistan on an annual basis since 1981. His numerous books and articles deal with Islam, the Sufi tradition, veneration of Muslim saints, art and material culture etc.

The theme of this book revolves round its author’s participation in the five-day long annual festival commemorating the great Sufi saint Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar at his shrine in Sehwan Sharif (Sindh). The occasion is characterized by deep ‘spiritual rapture, ecstasy, trance, magic and devotion’.

It is a unique spiritual experience that he wishes to share with his readers. Stefan Weidner, a noted German orientalist, has found it to be ‘one of the most exciting reports we owe to German cultural anthropology in recent decades’.

The remarks of the author in the concluding parts of the book are quite instructive. “During this pilgrimage into an archaic world I felt drawn, body and soul, into everything happening around me and had felt the ritual dissolution through the pores of my skin. I experienced the five days and nights in Sehwan as a fulfilling time, although ultimately it was only a temporary immersion in the world of the dervishes. In my mind I had imagined I would completely ‘immerse’ myself, but in fact I remained an onlooker… The mela  in Sehwan was a spectacular, huge event, embedded in the cyclical calendar of festivities of the rural

population in the Punjab and Sindh, a joyful world diametrically opposed to the austerity of ultra-conservative Muslims – a timeless, other-worldly experience.” The narrative is deliberately written in the present tense with a view to augmenting the immediacy of its spiritual impact on the reader.  

A Wild Goose ChaseDr Saadat Saeed is a well known scholar and

teacher of Urdu. His versatility as a writer finds its latest demonstration in this book which is a miscellany of his short English essays and critical appraisals relating to diverse literary topics besides some articles on his work and art by Gilani Kamran, Anis Nagi, M. Salim-ur-rahman and others. The metaphor ‘wild goose chase’ is used here to denote the futility of excessive theorization, as it were, of the literary practice.

Dr. Saadat’s appraisement of some cross-cultural literary men and matters speaks for his erudition and critical acumen. He has adroitly discussed the person and art of Gorky and Dostoyevsky (both classic Russian fiction writers), Yuvgeny Yevtushenko  (Russian poet), Italo Calvino (Italian fiction writer and critic), Kafka (German symbolist fiction writer) and Albert Camus (French novelist, dramatist and philosopher) in some of the essays included in the book.

Similarly his evaluation of Faiz, Dr Muhammad Ajmal, Anna Molka Ahmad, Iftikhar Arif, Anis Nagi,    Saqi Farooqi and Muhammad Khalil-ur-Rahman bespeaks his judgmental probity. His views on such themes as detachment, falsehood and absurdity,

commercialism, free verse in Urdu, prose poem, and the film media versus our culture reflect the catholicity of his approach in matters bearing on literature and culture.

Unlike his Urdu prose style, Dr Saadat’s English prose is quite lucid and racy too. Though couched in an austere printing format, it is hoped that the book will equally interest the dilettante reader and the serious student of literature.

Conducting ResearchAbdul Waheed, the chief librarian at GCU,

Lahore has authored this book. It is divided into six chapters dealing with research and writing, plagiarism, the mechanics of writing, scientific method of research article/thesis writing in Urdu, documentation, and other systems of documentation. The work is designed to provide ‘guidance to writers of research papers, theses, dissertations and reports in college/university and professions’. Its main focus is on MLA (Modern Language Association) documentation style which is ‘most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities’. It also ‘specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English language in writing’. Further, MLA ‘provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited papers’. Thus they are enabled to ‘build their credibility by demonstrating accountability to their source material’.

The book is a commendable exercise in terms of its avowed aims. Students and researchers could benefit from it alike.

dances. Working under the direction of Roshan Ara Bokhari, who is also the choreographer, it has developed a vast repertoire. They have also created dances that are topical and related to social issues. Dances about the suppressed people of Kashmir and about the devastation caused by the floods last year are part of their repertoire which they have presented on other occasions. Putting into dance the words of Iqbal and Faiz are also included in their list of dances, as is the story of our peasants and the hard-working people of Pakistan. Also mention must be made of the costumes – they have been made with flair and add much to the presentation of the dances.

In conversation with Ms. Bokhari about the NPAG, she told us that the PNCA has done a distinct service to dance and made it possible to not only preserve this art but also to take it to new levels. Dance needs patronage. About the difficulties she said that it takes years and years of dedicated hard work to make a dancer but regretfully the dancers tend to leave due to various reasons, and then one has to start over from scratch again.

It was refreshing to witness a show of this quality and hopefully the dance programme can be repeated for the general public and a larger audience.

become so overwhelming that it undermines or even destroys those (Muslim) governments by humiliating them in the eyes of their own people... Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons and one of the most powerful armies in Asia’. Only a ‘catastrophic overspill of the war in Afghanistan’ or ecological disasters on the scale of the 2010 floods will pose a dire peril for Pakistan.

Then there is the equally ominous water resource crisis: ‘…By 2025 population growth is likely to mean that Pakistan’s annual water demand rises to 338 billion cubic metres (bcm), while unless radical action is taken Pakistan’s water availability will be around the same as present, at 236 bcm. The resulting shortfall of 100 bcm would be two-thirds of the entire present flow of the Indus’.

A pretty sobering scenario, especially because this shortfall occurs even before the full impact of the global climate change is felt. The author concludes that ‘Pakistan, though a deeply troubled state is also a tough one; and that, barring catastrophic decisions in Washington, New Delhi – and of course Islamabad – it is likely to survive as a country. In the long run, the greatest threat to Pakistan’s existence is not insurgency but ecological change’.

Mr Lieven urges ‘recognition, at least in private that that it has above all been the US-led campaign in Afghanistan which has been responsible for increasing Islamic insurgency and terrorism in Pakistan since 2001. Further, ‘this also implies that the US should observe restraint in its pressure on Pakistan’, especially over the drone attacks in the tribal areas with their ‘collateral’ killing of women and children.

The author emphasizes that ‘above all, as this book has argued, there must be no open intervention of US ground forces in FATA, as this risks outright mutiny in the Pakistan army’. He maintains, contrary to the commonly held view, that ‘Pakistan’s links to the Afghan Taliban, hitherto seen in the West as a problem, should also be seen as potentially a critical asset in the search for an exit from Afghanistan’. The writer also urges the US and EU to recognise Pakistan’s legitimate concerns in Afghanistan, involve China in limiting the Afghan conflict and seek a peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute.

Now, at least somebody is talking for real!But the question is: can our politicians, embroiled in their

own games of musical chairs and survival, prove equal to the unprecedented, almost critical challenges facing the country? Their speeches are essentially the same speech, they are not exactly paragons of financial orthodoxy, and we all know that they can’t do most things and won’t do the rest.

So help us God.

remains missing. This is rather strange that for the intelligence failures of the country’s ‘esteemed’ agencies locals are being made to suffer. The matter of Osama’s existence or non-existence in Abbotabad has come to a close. His house was in an area that fell within the Cantonment. Post the event if anyone must be taken to task it is the local SHO and the intelligence officials supposed to maintain intelligence over the region.

Question the military, question the police, question the government. And after you are done, question locals. Locals knew as much, if not less, that what the rest did. Some knew the men in the compound, some did not. It was like any other community. From conversations there, they shared suspicions, but who would have thought, in the middle of Abbotabad, would be hiding the world’s most wanted fugitive. In any case, this should neither have been the priority of either the neighbour or the milkman when those whose priority it

was were sound asleep only a couple of blocks away.And terrorism is not just confined to Osama

America was arguably the biggest killer in the 20th  century. However, America is definitely the biggest killer in the 21st century. It is a fact that it must be brought to bear the burden for. And the Pakistani army has its own questions to answer. Enough is enough, should be our message to both.

We, the people, shall again begin to bear the burden for the double games and failures of the brass. No explanation is enough to explain how, when each of us is inconvenienced every day through ID card checks while entering a cantonment, Osama could be hiding only a 15- minute walk away. And remember: there have been no official denials. No one half-credible has come up to say, ‘no, it was not Osama who died.’

So let us take it as that: Osama was killed, residing comfortably in Abbotabad, and our brass either knew nothing or was protecting him.

The truth of the event is confined to the set of options we have available in those present in the above short sentence.   And none of them is acceptable.

The Pakistani response however again steeps in conspiracy theories. Without questioning the military’s role, Imran Khan has splattered onto the scene, asking for an American withdrawal and appears to have found resonance. These are not objective assessments. Criticism today needs to be much more widespread. Right now is the time to end these tamashas.

Let us be brave enough to condemn all three: the Pakistan military, its intelligence agencies and the American government.

And yes let’s speak of ‘real’ things now. The struggles of everyday Pakistanis which are caught up and intermeshed into matters unrelated to their everyday.

And let us be sure this is not the end of terrorism. That requires the end of our agencies’ relationship with militant outfits. As citizens, we are ready. The question is, whether the powers-that-be are finally ready?

Osama: Dead or brought to life?From Page 1

Sunday, 08 May, 2011

Once upon a time annual diaries along with calendars, of the hanging variety, were all the rage

with everyone clamouring for a set and not being contented until one possessed one. And one was not satisfied with the second-best either. However, it seems that, overtaken by the IT revolution, and by the trimness of new gadgets, the once much-sought diary has, along with the mini-culture that it spawned, like so many other things now obsolete, has too outlived its utility. Probably the only people still making full use of a diary are market traders for recording their transactions, dubious or otherwise, or maybe housewives for keeping track of their mundane domestic issues and expenses.

Yet diaries are brought out every year, and pretty expensive ones at that, but mostly as giveaways by various corporate entities as part of their marketing and promotion plans. And it really is no big deal whether one receives a copy or not. It’s the latest i-pad that matters.

It goes without saying that some corporates do it better than most, latching on to the right themes and hiring the best people around to do it. An outstanding case in point is Bank Alfalah’s legendary poet series that ran for around five years and featured Mir, Ghalib, Iqbal, Faiz and Sadequain’s calligraphic paintings of their quatrains.

Roads less travelledNow, another remarkable endeavour

is the diary under review (a strange occurrence in itself, reviewing a diary) – the Pakistan Petroleum Limited’s (PPL) 2011 issue. It indeed is no ordinary diary, a thing of beauty that a person of taste as well as the general reader would want to possess. And not meant to scribble notes on, it is a veritable collector’s item. Much like a book, it even has a title – Roads Less Travelled.

The PPL could produce this lovely and highly readable ‘diary’ because the company had a genuinely remarkable human resource to draw from.

The author of several books – Riders on the Wind, Between two Burrs on the Map, Prisoner on a Bus, Jhelum: City of the Vitasta, and Sea Monsters and the Sun God – and hundreds of travel pieces that have appeared in most List A newspapers and magazines (including every Sunday in this exact space), Salman Rashid is a travel writers’ travel writer, by far the best in the country.

Though there are many in Pakistan, both in English and vernacular languages, with claims to be masters of the genre, what makes Salman the standout by a distance is that his is no ordinary travel writing. One only calls it such as a matter

of convenience, or perhaps for want of an expression capable of summing up his piece in one word. In effect, what Salman gives you is substance that goes far beyond a travel piece, for he just doesn’t write about places or landscapes. Each of his pieces is a free flowing specimen, with most knowledgeable description of people, customs, history, legends and, yes, anthropology woven into the story – and in language that is fluent and crisp, and also at places containing a fair dose of humour and sarcasm. The panorama that he presents turns most of his work into literary masterpieces.

Another aspect of Salman’s work is the accompaniment of his landscape photography, which is not merely a visual delight but also, as aptly described in the flap, “replicates, as lucidly, the spatial notations and ambience he articulates in words”.

The panoply that Salman paints through his pen and his photography is simply breathtaking – a delight for the connoisseur and general reader alike.

In Roads Less Travelled, 2011 version, Salman’s focus has been on Pakistan’s 12 passes, one each for every month of the year, starting from up-north travelling down horizontally towards the south. Some are located in the icy regions, others on top of valleys most picturesque, and yet others surrounded by stark background. Titles that Salman has given eloquently describes each of the dozen passes: Khyber: Of plunderers and pilgrims; Chhappar: Rift in the Hill (150 km north of Sibi); Bolan: The Jangle of Bells; Moola: King’s Highway; Hisper: Fortress of Ice; West Muztagh: Balti Footprint; Mintaka: Pass of a Thousand Ibex Shandur: Playing Dice in Chitral; Babusar: Passage of the Pious; Khunjerab: Upstart Pass; Jhao: Portents of Peril; Shimshal: Riddle of the Kanjutis.

Each piece maps out a detailed itinerary for the interested traveller, in “How to get there” and back in one piece. Look at this one Moola: King’s Highway: “Can be accessed either from Kalat in the west or Gandava and Jhal Magsi east of the Kirthars. From Quetta, Kalat is reached in an easy two hours by car. There are a couple of rather Spartan hotels in town but the government rest houses are a much better option. Gandava is a tedious six hours from Quetta with no place to stay.

“The journey through Moola, which requires at least one overnight stay, is best made with the assistance of local contacts. If contacted beforehand, Saifullah Zehri (saiful lahzehri@hotmail .com;www.chotok.20m.com) of Moola can be helpful in making necessary arrangements.” After

this, the concluding line is a counsel that leaves nothing to imagination: “In Jhal, it is useful to have an introduction to the Magsis.”

Here is an excerpt from The Khyber Pass, which shows why Salman’s offerings are something to relish.

“Khyber: Of plunderers and pilgrims“Cutting across the Suleman Hills to

connect the fertile Peshawar Valley with the Afghan Highlands, the Khyber Pass is arguably one mountain conduit in Pakistan to have seen the most protracted unfolding of human history. The pass has formed a major entry point from the Afghan Highlands into the vast and fertile Indo-Gangetic plains.

“On the one hand, it reverberated again and again to the tramp of booted feet, the clink of armoury and the whinnying of war horses.

On the other, its walls absorbed the sound of the softly murmured prayers of the pilgrim and trader on a long and lonely journey in search of nirvana, spiritual or temporal.

“Though it was not the only entry point to the sub-continent – there being no fewer than half a dozen other conduits within 80 kilometres along the border on either side – Khyber was the easiest route as it could take wheeled traffic. It is as though nature had purposefully cleaved a clear trough the Suleman Hills to afford trouble-free passage.

“Some three millennium before the Aryan singers of Vedic hymns came this

way, the aboriginal inhabitants of the great cities of the Indus Valley were going back and forth, trading with their counterparts in the Afghan Uplands. Around the year 1800 BCE, the Aryans arrived to become the ancestors of much of the modern population of the subcontinent and the first people to record their passage from the cheerless Central Asiatic Steppes of mid-summer snowfalls into the fertile Indus Valley.

“In January 326 BCE, Alexander the Macedonian led his armies into what is now Khyber -Pakhtunkhwa. Though he himself came across a pass to the northeast, two of his ablest generals brought their divisions through the Khyber. The tribes of the Pass were well used to the passage of armies since the influx of the Achaemenian kings began in the middle years of the 6th century BCE.

“But this time they stood back to watch the Greeks with awe, for never before had such a vast army crossed the Khyber.

“Following Alexander’s death in 322 BCE, the hundred year-long Mauryan rule brought relative peace to the Khyber. Between 205 and 110 BCE, two different branches of Greek adventurers vied for power in Balkh, Afghanistan, and Taxila. During this time, the Khyber echoed, at least once, with Greek battle cries as the two groups clashed to determine their right to rule.

“The parade that the Khyber Pass witnessed for centuries was to continue. For the next nearly 2,000 years all those

who entered passed through unimpeded. The Scythians, Parthians, Kushans, Sassanid, Arab,Turks and the Mongols – first under Chengez Khan followed by Tamerlane and Babur - all came this way as the Khyber tribes stood back watching their progress into the plains.

Today, the Khyber presents a militaristic outlook. From the skyline, squat brick and steel fortifications look down on villages dominated by high-walled mud and brick forts necessitated through generations of blood feuds. Nearby, the homes of ordinary folk huddle close together for security. The European style barbicans and embrasures of the hilltop pickets recall a century and half of British struggle to master the Khyber. Closer to the road, there are pillboxes that blend with the grey and brown rocks.

“By the time the British arrived on the scene to play their opening gambit of the Great Game with Russia over Central Asia, the Khyber tribes had endured enough. From the peaceful lot that stood aside to watch the progress of history through their Pass, they turned into a belligerent horde. Much British blood was lost in the bid to bridle the tribes, forcing the Raj to maintain a strong military presence at the Pass. In the end, it all came to naught and the British left, abandoning their fortifications. These, together with the regimental crests adorning a hillside, are their only lasting mementos.”

And, this is only the beginning of the feast of delights… only if you could lay your hands on this ‘diary’.

Travels with a maestroThe panoply that Salman paints through his pen and his photography is simply breathtaking – a delight for the connoisseur and general reader alike

By Agha Akbar

The wind-swept summer pasture of Shuwert has the unique distinction of being the only habitation

in Pakistan that is actually in Central Asia

Glaciers tarn on the Biafo Glacier en route

to the Hisper Pass

Dry and barren, the hills of Chhappar Rift are an inhospitable place. The old pony trail is seen near the bottom, while the new road laid

out several years ago has yet to receive the blacktop surface