I will be the change I want to see in others

“ICE-CREAM; we will pick you in fifteen- your treat” as soon as I read the message I started waiting for my friends. As planned we got to the ice-cream parlor and they got themselves the most expensive flavor. With each bite of the delicious swiss toblerone ice cream came an even yummier treat in form of gossips. From engagements to break ups, fights to make ups, classes to bunks we had discussed it all. There was silence for about five minutes in which we paid attention around; the waiter was flipping TV channels. One glimpse of the ‘Imran Khan’s tsunami’, as some newspaper named it, was sufficient to resume our chaffering. And not just us the 30^th October Imran Khan jalsa did get everyone’s attention for at least a few minutes, if not more.

Now it was turn of politics in Pakistan to be canvassed.

A friend: You know what our nation needs is a dictator, and an honest one. Not the one with a uniform. Everyone in our country has a god damn opinion. You ask twelve people even a simple yes-no question like ‘Do you want ice cream?’ you will get at least five different responses. ‘Is it plain or with topping?’, ‘Only if there is a pastry with it’, ‘How many scoops?’…

Another friend: (laughs) funny how you put it. I wish changing a country’s ‘system’, if I may say, was this simple by effort from one side only. One prince comes, and rescues the princess. Mind you the princess wanted to be rescued which reflected in her actions. But not in Pakistan, you want to change everything around you but yourself. You ‘call a friend’ when the police warden stops you on violating traffic laws and you call others corrupt. You ‘seek help from influential acquaintances’ when you need a job but accuse others of using connections. You ‘copy your classmate’s exam’ whenever you get a chance and you call others cheaters. I can go on and on… Like nation, like leader.

Yet another friend: Errm.. so that means we are not voting?

Another friend: Oh shut up! This isn’t funny- that’s the dilemma with our nation. We tend to ignore things, or blame them on someone. And when we cannot find ‘someone’, we blame it on fate.

The chattering, unpredictably, actually led us into healthy discussion. We all took something that touched us most and left for homes. On getting home, I found out that we had left the ice-cream parlor without paying the bill. For a second I thought I should go back and make the payment but it didn’t take long before the thought went away. Shortly after, I was celebrating the fact that we had managed to eat free ice-cream that too without making any effort.

Two days later, I found myself walking into the ice-cream parlor paying the bill I had forgotten to pay (AND THEY HAD FORGOTTEN TO COLLECT). What made me pay the bill were some very powerful words I read typed and pressed under the glass on a table at a professor’s office, “Be the change, you want to see in others”.

I felt very proud, guilt-free and relieved. Partly because the lady at the counter remembered we hadn’t paid the bill and majorly because I had taken the first step in effort to improve my surroundings. I will be the change I want to see in others.     

Don’t be crazy- media will run out of business if you start voting!

The media in Pakistan has been my true companion. Latest gift it gave me was four hours of non-stop entertainment by one of the servants of the nation; if that’s why we voted him we made the right choice. His press conference took the nation’s (or at least my) mind off the depression all around and his words served as brain-massagers. I am so glad that we vote each election so that his party stays in the light. Because we know the people of his city would always sleep with peace and a smile on their faces as long as he has power. I have heard he sends an invitation and ensures that at least one member from each invited family comes to witness the high spirited and refreshing course of fun filled activities. I tell you, had M.A. Jinnah been alive today he would have felt unworthy of the title of Quaid. What melodious voice, fearlessness and empathy our leader has for his people. Time will fall short and pages will shrink if I continue talking about our patriotic leader.

Therefore I will resume talking about my very important friend, the media. Media is window of a country showing to the world what’s happening in that particular country. Our window has a poster, showing a swim suit fashion show where men and women are discussing over a cup of espresso how to get this much needed product to the flood struck. Young girls and boys can be seen smoking sheesha and playing cards in the back ground. This fills my heart with my pleasure because problems faced by family should not be brought out in public and should be solved by family guided by the head, based on self-sustainability and hard work. Our national servants, in this regard, are in no way behind. They make sure that do not in any way become an object of pity. And when other countries offer us cloth our national servants cut it according to our need and make sure we go back to them for a new suit also rather than switching to local fabric.        

Besides, these qualities possessed by my best friend, who puts imported coat, it has a very good sense of judgment. It will always give me the news I want, rather need, to hear. For instance, these days it keeps on highlighting how awesome our current government is, their achievements and affairs are aired every now and then. But it very effectively almost eradicates the information about the voter registration. So what if the date ends in less than 20 days? It’s not important for us to know because evidently we have done the correct hiring. In fact, not even ‘we’, because ‘we’ do not vote. So what if our elected national servant changes the direction of the flood towards a whole village to save their castle? That’s a perfect decision and that is why it is not important to vote.

My unbiased friend manages its resources very well. No ad campaigns will be made to create awareness about the unimportant issue of voting, like our crazy neighbor who cannot help themselves from making such campaigns. Such xenocentrics! But just so that people do not say we are not friendly we show their movies. Let alone, having programs on importance of voting our media runs one odd ad at 2 a.m. so that the message gets to the masses. Like my village watchman, our media also tries to keep us alert as they also believe in the same tag line ‘JAGTAY REHNA, saday taay na rehna’. (Stay awake, do not rely on us)

30^th Sep is the last date of registering you vote, if you are slightly patriotic and want to see better Pakistan, please get your vote registered and exercise your right. Because those who believe media is their friend; their definition of friend is ‘a friend with weed is a friend indeed’.

An open letter to the liberal media artists in Pakistan

Dear media people,

Almost a decade ago, liberty of Pakistani media was a breath of fresh air that was seen as the purest source of information. Today, the image has changed drastically but still it is more watched and discussed. Despite the question on the ethical code of conduct followed (or not followed) by Pakistani media. Despite the criticism of playing with human emotions to cash ratings. Despite being labeled insensitive and inhumane, time and time again. Pakistani media is watched, loved and growing popular day by day.

Today, I am not writing to you to talk about what the ethical boundaries of the competent talk show hosts are. Partly because I know the race of gathering the most eyeballs by being creative has blinded us of much more serious concerns. I want to talk to you about the entertainment that our media is providing. It is no doubt both well produced and well received. But is the purpose of showing these sit-coms, game shows and opinion shows only to entertain? If the answer is yes, it grieves me.

Dear reader, There is a reason why media has been called pillar of a nation. And underestimating, misusing or exploiting its power is both foolish and absurd. If you are portraying a girl dressed in branded western clothes, talking transcendently in a perfect English accent and chewing a bubble gum as ‘cool’, something somewhere is very wrong. Why would you do that? Do not get me wrong I encourage learning English because it is need of time. But my point is our media can also portray a girl wearing nice eastern dress, talking politely in Urdu (Pakistan’s national language) and chewing paan as ‘cool’, also. This is the power that rests with media; they can change the perceptions or even mindsets of nations.

Rather than showing how amazing U.S.A is or Paris is, why does not our TV shows us how beautiful Pakistan is? And trust me the natural beauty that God has blessed Pakistan with is breath taking. To reinforce my point I would like to pin point how much our government is doing for its maintenance. Confused? Do not be they are doing nothing and still we have the highest polo ground in the world.  

Pakistanis are highly emotional; capitalize on it not by arousing rage but by strengthening their patriotism. Show how beautiful Pakistan is through your dramas, show how culturally rich Pakistan is with people of diverse cultures making one Pakistan. It is important to tell what wrong Pakistanis have done but it is also important what much Pakistanis have achieved. Jehangir Khan has a winning streak of 555 consecutive matches in squash. It stands a world rank even today. 

Majority of the news, talk shows and debates broadcasted are spreading negativism. Not much you can do there, reply to your assumed innocent response, “We are only showing what’s happening”. The entertainment area is completely open to changes. Rather than switching to how our neighbor country’s style of dramas, why do not you work on making your own dramas even better? Because even though Bollywood is very developed and popular Pakistani dramas are way ahead of Indian dramas.

Dear reader, I am a Pakistani and I love my country and the only reason I write to you is because I want your help in making other Pakistanis realize that they can change the image of Pakistan by working hard and loving their country. Because I know for a fact that not all Pakistanis can even dream of shifting to another country, if God forbid a war starts. And if things are not changed, the hatred is going to lead us there, eventually. We are Pakistanis whether we like it or not, and we can only improve things in Pakistan because we are the ones who are responsible for things today.

I hope to see TV doing more and better for Pakistan in future.

Oh-my-God-how-could-this-be?

A friend’s Facebook status was, “I am wondering how the MQM would have survived the 2 hour press conference by Mr. Zulfiqar Mirza?” The most liked comment on that status was “They would’ve been loading their weapons :D”.

The press conference by former governor of Sindh, Mr. Zulfiqar Mirza, has created much hype and, to my surprise, debate on Oh-my-God-how-could-this-be? I was not amazed at even a single sentence coming from Mr. Z.M’s mouth. He said MQM is a terrorist organization, BIG NEWS. He blamed our government of being American handmaid, like we didn’t know that? He called Rehman Malik a liar, SURPRISE SURPRISE. What did surprise me was this very obvious information is being debated on for authenticity only. As usual the focus is on discussions and not on solutions.

This press conference will surely have one benefit, in the coming days we will have a lot to choose from. On T.V. different talk shows to choose from, whoever loses temper faster will win the most ratings. Off T.V. we will get a chance to take part in, and if lucky observe, discussions on what a (non) revolutionary press conference has happened? If God is kind we might get to hear the legendary telephonic speech of Altaf Bhai. Oh brother, that’s breathtaking. And after a week or may be two, if the media cashes it well, it will all be gone. We will be back to watching talk shows on routine issues, gossiping and Altaf bhai on youtube only.

Though politicians in Pakistan cannot be mostly trusted with their words but still Mr. Z.M made a waste attempt by putting his life at stake. Because, this nation is sleeping with no alarm set. And man! Are we good at it or what? Almost twenty percent of our country was directly affected by the 2010 natural catastrophe; crops, animals, houses and people were lost to the flood. Our countrymen till date are suffering the consequences of the disaster. The role fellow Pakistanis played initially was commendable but now only a handful of the people are empathic and working. Our brothers in Karachi are dying every day and we are only concerned because our flight to a foreign country is via Karachi. My brother’s friend in Karachi messaged him yesterday, “Today could have been my last day. Thank God for saving me”. Another friend in Karachi mailed me to share her grief and sorrow; she wrote “Death bodies in sacks are lying in the street corners and people are afraid to open and bury them”. And we are caught in the dilemma of who is cooler, Karachites or Lahoris?

Despite everything that is happening, we as a nation are not moving a muscle. God knows what are we waiting for? Two years back at a protest one of the fellows was holding a banner, “Please do not make noise, this nation is sleeping”. I was furious at such harsh criticism. Not anymore! What a few groups of young people are doing for the country should be a national effort. Lawyer’s moment was a trailer, we need to stand and work united as a nation to safe our country because present “democracy” is definitely not working.  

KALMA CHOWK- YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED

A lot of criticism is in the air about the “fall of the Kalma chowk”, like it is the fall of the Pakistan economy. Many people, all of a sudden seem to be have loads of memories associated with it- which were probably made staring it, when they had to wait for a lot of time to get across the signal. Protests, SMSes and even Facebook pages have been made and dedicated to the discussion over the loss of this beautiful piece of architecture. The government’s personal interest in building this flyover is a bi-product of the discussion. This is a perfect example for why I support dictatorship for Pakistani people, mind you not military, over democracy.

I completely agree that the kalma chowk monument had its significance but there is no use crying over spilled milk. Has anyone thought about the maintenance of our actual cultural heritage? Lahore fort, Badshahi mosque to name a few. Seventy-five percent of the Lahore fort has deteriorated and only twenty-five percent is in its original form. There are less than fifteen sweepers responsible for the cleanliness of the whole fort spread over the area of 20 hectares. Now my question is, is anyone of the people who feel strongly about the cultural heritage doing anything about this situation, because it is obviously far far important?

I have not come across any single comment, post or SMS; what to talk about Facebook pages and discussions, on how fast the construction is being done or appreciating the hard work of the labor. The construction of the flyover goes on for twenty four hours and with the construction of this flyover one of the most important aspect of life, time, could be saved and better utilized.

Kalma chowk was a beautiful square which almost all Lahorites had passed by and it shall be remembered in our stories but sometimes you have to let go of things for greater good. Also, if one is that interested in preservation of the cultural heritage a proactive approach will be far more productive and will actually allow one to make an impact rather than spread than just uttering criticism. 

A Pakistani’s sorrows

A common Pakistani is unfortunately a pessimist-xenocentric-criticizer. No matter what walk of life he belongs to or whatever way he is making his living; he is very honest and is efficiently playing his part as a Pakistani citizen; although he is not doing anything for his country ranging from casting vote to paying taxes. The most unfortunate part is that these people mostly belong from the educated class of Pakistan.  A common Pakistani would promptly criticize the following with the given arguments:

1.    The government: Corruption and flawed leadership are synonyms in Pakistan. They are not educated, they do not have any sense of direction or strategy and all they care about is money. The urdu saying ‘note dekha, mood bana’ (show me currency and I will be convinced) is the perfect logo for the government.

2.   The army: The once respected army is now, unfortunately/ fortunately, a center of ridicule. Major chunk of our national budget is allocated to the army therefore they are required to be perfect. The army is sold, although we have complete respect for those who lost their lives protecting us.

3.    The WAPDA: Those @#$%^&*!. I wish they go to hell and die there every day because of hot weather and no electricity.

4.   The doctors: In the recent past they have been a target of a lot public criticism. Inhuman professionals, incompetent money maker who do not only rob people but make them regret for choosing ‘that’ particular doctor. Almost any doctor’s name could fill up the space.

5.     The media: In the race of being the first one to report the news they have broken all the barriers of ethics and morals; whether it is the wedding of two celebrities to or a cross fire between two politicians.

6.    The police: Bribes, setups, fake encounter murders you name it and our police is doing it. They don’t have any values; all they care about is their tummies.

7.   The judiciary: Have they ever done anything just? The one authority that can have accountability of the executive needs to be accountable for their actions first- what a judiciary we have.

Unfortunately Pakistani people apply the halo effect, just one action is needed to mess up all the good done. Pakistanis will ignore all the positive things done by that department, completely covering them with black spots too. What I do not understand is why do we have problem when the world is applies the same halo effect on us the Pakistanis? (Note to self: Do not complain at the airport security next time)

And if you do not have the sense to look things through or to tell what’s right from what’s not, what gives you the license to quickly formulate the opinion and start portraying a bad image of the country. There are a lot of ills in our country absolutely no doubt about that; a lot of institutions do have a lacks. But unless we are not doing anything how can we blame other. We need to give in our little starting with voting, perhaps. 

6 things we need to start doing

“Change begins from within”, “You want to change the world, change yourself” are very impressive but with all due respect clichéd phrases. It is high time; we put our words into actions. When the discussion of putting words into actions comes everyone starts thinking of all the big, fancy hard-to-implement ideas and mostly people end up doing nothing. But everyone tends to overlook all the small things which are very do-able and can have an impact even at an individual’s level.

So to give it start, here’s a list of 6:

1.      Stop littering

Where ever we go we make sure to leave a mark behind and the easiest way of doing that is littering. Anything from throwing an empty juice tin at the centuries old fort to banana skin at the joy land would do and then we backbite about people who do not keep their homes clean. Remind me here again how are we any different? In fact they are better, because they are at least consistent in their actions. 

2.      Stop complaining

Avoid bursting over minor routine issues and learn to let go of things, its saving of your own energy. So what if it is very hot outside; so are you, don’t be jealous of the sun, your complaining is not going to change anything.

3.      Have patience

Please have little tolerance for things especially while driving; it is not necessary that everyone has equally quick reflexes as yours, so it’s not a bad idea to wait a few seconds before unleashing your army of horns and deadly curses- which, frankly, are of no good. Plus trust me the other person is not partying in the middle of the street, he also wants to get across that signal.

4.      Save electricity, gas and water

Cursing WAPDA and the government is one thing; don’t be misled by the heading, no one is asking you to stop doing that. On the contrary it is our moral responsibility to make efficient use of the resources that we have for our own good. Open the tap when you need water, do not just let the water following all the time while you are brushing your hair and you need to sprinkle water only once.

5.      Stop showing off; be cooperative

If a guard at the entrance of a building stops and asks for your identification he is not trying to play-mighty or put a stain on your status, he is doing his job; cooperate with him. With the prevailing security conditions of the country it is all the more necessary for you to follow his directions. I have witnessed people trying to show the security guards down by telling them who they are and what they can do and how dare he ask them for their identification- for all such people, honestly had he known he would not have asked for your identity.

6.      Give respect

Give respect and earn respect in return. Greeting a shop keeper, taxi driver, watch man, sweeper will do for a start. These people are making a living by doing decent jobs; we should respect that rather than making a comparison. How much a white collar worker earns in Pakistan anyway? Hardly enough to survive. By showing respect via these small gestures you are not only raising their self-esteem but also your own. 

OBL dead or another stage drama?

Bin Laden’s death marks a win against anti-terrorism. Confetti! But not only is there inconsistency but there are serious loop holes in the unveiling stories about the Abbottabad operation.  Here are five big question marks which force me to believe that this whole operation was nothing but a stage play.

1.      No proper communication setup

If such an important leader of Al-qaeda has been living in Abbottabad for such a long time and also he has been taking major decisions of Al-Qaeda, wouldn’t he have a very strong and secure communication system? I am sure he was not relying on pigeon to convey all his messages:

“Alright, I am all set in Abbottabad, its go green for the next bomb attack. Also see the map attached to the right leg of the pigeon, the red circle is where you blast next”. What if one of the pigeon falls victim to a drone attack, how many days before they can tell they need a new pigeon?

If the master mind of the 9/11 attack was living in Abbottabad a lot of laptops, cellphones, wireless sets and other gadgets would have been recovered from his hideout instead of a bunch of old fashioned PCs etc.

2.      No proper supplies

Food, after air and water is the basic need of survival and if you are living in a compound with your kids and wives it seems impossible that there is no proper food stock. In fact Osama’s was not the only family living there, that means more tummies, more food needs- there has to be proper system to feed people. Any one hungry would go out and buy stuff from the nearest grocery store.

What about the electricity bills, water supply or gas bills for that matter? We sure don’t have a put-a-coin and get-the-supply system in Pakistan.

3.      Living for 5 years? Seriously!

With the given facts and figures this does not seem like the case. Even if Osama was found there he was probably on a run, it is very hard to believe that he was living there for such a long time. Living for five years in such an important city from Pakistan military’s point of view with no proper security, supplies, networking.

4.      Security system

Such high profile leader, having big rewards against his name, major intelligence agencies after him, whole of the US waiting for the announcement of his death and he dies without fighting back? Only very few weapons are found, no guards, no security system is in place. I do not know but someone who planned 9/11, he is not expected to be this non-tech savvy. In fact, it is very hard to believe that the operation lasted for only forty-minutes in total with no major causalities on the other side. 

5.      Money talks

Unfortunately in a country like Pakistan where one fourth of its population is living below the poverty line, a lot of things sell for money.[1] The timings are perfect, America had been operating in Pakistan for quite some time now and it was all going in vain, their operations had resulted in more civilian deaths than militants and now the people of US had started to notice and unfortunately unlike Pakistanis when they notice it has an impact. Elections are near and who does not like to stay in power so bingo, OBL’s death changes the picture.  

---

[1] Central Intelligence Agency. (2010, March 11). The World Factbook. Retrieved April 15, 2011, from Central   Intelligence Agency: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2046.html (This figure is of 2010 which implies that there is no incorporation of the mass destruction done by the floods)

And then you complain about the leadership?

The other day in class when I was dozing in and out of sleep my friend poked me when her elbow saying “Oye! You are missing all the fun”. As I gained my senses I realized that the lecture discussion on strategic leadership in organizations had somehow transformed to leadership in Pakistan. I heard very valuable contributions from the class on different political parties, I was amazed that how keenly my fellows followed up on the political activities and embarrassed that I did not know peanut in comparison.

A student said: “Pakistan could only prosper if it has good leadership, Malaysia was on the breach of collapse too when Mahateer Muhammad came and changed it all.”

Another said: “Pakistan needs a dictator; this spoiled nation can only be straightened with a rod”

Our professor asked “Where is such leader going to come from? ‘Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me’ and as far as Pakistan is concerned it has been fooled by its leaders for as many as four times...”

Building on the argument someone from class said: “Well frankly it’s not the leadership to be blamed than, in fact it is the people casting their votes to be blamed?”

Professor: “Are they?”

*sounds of yeah.. yes.. no.. probably*

Student x: “Ma’am, we are sitting in this class where almost everyone has sufficient knowledge to support the better political party or at least identify the bad political party from the worst. Can you please ask the students to raise their hands who voted in the past election, or any one of the past election they were eligible to vote at?”

“I am not surprised to see three of hands in the air. And then you complain about the leadership, you lost that right when you did not vote”

After a silence there was one response: “I wanted to but for which party should I have voted for given the options? They have all done so much wrong for the country”

Professor: “You should have voted for the lesser evil. Not casting your voting was the worst option…. With this note the class is dismissed”

This made me think that if I claim to love my country should I not play my part by at least voting? This is one problem with Pakistanis that those who know don’t care and the ones not aware vote and suffer. Most of the educated class is better off, so why bother. I will vote for Tehreek-i-Insaaf in the next election because I think it is a better party among the given options.  

10 reasons why the zodiac signs should stay the same

1. Even Parke Kunkle, the person who made the discovery, is not embracing the new signs.
2. The change in the format of the newspapers horoscope section and the addition of a thirteenth sign, which is also an odd number.
3. More work! The need for updating zodiac signs of celebrities everywhere, starting with Wikipedia.
4. The change in compatibility, since now you are compatible with certain zodiac signs you previously were not compatible with. For a hardcore believer in astrology this means lots of changes.
5. A change in zodiac personality traits equals to a change in zodiac personality perception, which evidently equals to not-easily-digestible.
6. Astrologists are still debating the usefulness of the discovery and deciding on whether or not it will even have an impact.
7. Astrology has lost its credibility, and while there have been issues with the science since its inception, this recent discovery is the final blow.
8. Many twins are now crabs, many crabs are now lions, and many lions are now virgins and its plain weird.
9. The thirteenth zodiac sign is hard to pronounce.
10. What are we to do with all the gifts, mugs, photo frames, and panels having our “old” zodiac signs on them?

All is well that ends well. What about when all is well but does not end well?

All is well that ends well. What about when all is well but does not end well? Like when you are excited, yet surprised, but excited to enroll in one elective course you pick by choice in a semester and enjoy the lectures all along, learn a lot and consequently perform decent on evaluations but end up victim of tough grading? Is that not well because it did not end well? Or is it well because it was great learning?

Let’s simplify and do a weighted-performance-matrix-thing.

	Weightage	Scene A	Scene B
Grade/ Your learning from worlds point of view	0.8	0.9	0.2
Learning	0.2	0.2	0.9
Total	1	0.74	0.36

In Scene A you have this amazing grade which can be achieved by various ways including fair useless means i.e. route learning etc. and unfair means i.e. cheating, flattering the instructor etc. In Scene B you have learned a lot out of the course but end up with a poor grade*, thus your will be considered one grade lesser in that area by the “world”, when you are actually not. This one poor grade starts the circle which ends at lesser, than could have been, overall GPA passing through lesser semester GPA and lesser grades in later semester because of being discouraged and dishearten. In light of the ‘three-seven rule’, of which we are all (not) aware of, we will not consider the positive effects of the one higher grade(s) that we receive when some course(s) is graded leniently.

By the way this is one very strong point which supports theories on screw-you-grading-system and grades-do-not-reflect-REAL*-intellectual-ability. I wonder what charm instructor’s get in tough grading other than becoming popular or rather notorious as tough grader. With this wondering this pointless article comes to a no-apparent-end end.

* Poor grade: not literally poor, lesser than what you deserved or at least what you think you deserved.

* REAL: more commonly replaced by actual, in ACTUAL literature and ‘other’ stuff.

* three-seven rule: you will tell three people when something good happens and seven when something bad happens. [It’s actually a famous rule in business] 

Governor Punjab’s assassination: Terrorists within

Shameless or should I call the self-proclaimed-judges-of-other’s-deeds hopeless? I was amazed to see people celebrating other over the murder of governor of Punjab. Let’s review the reason for murder of the governor in the first place; HE WAS SHOT BECAUSE OF HIS CALLING THE BLASHEMY LAWS AS THE ‘KALA KANOON’. Although I completely disagree with the victim’s approach towards the blasphemy laws but I condemn the execution of the assassination; if every walking person has the right to pass and carryout the judgment I wonder why do we have the courts, judges or even laws to begin with?

The irony of the situation is that you are trying to be a supporter of a religion by doing exactly what’s disliked in the very religion. Congratulating on someone’s death? Seriously? I would quote an event as described in Sahih Al-Bukhari (Volume 2, Hadith 399): “A funeral procession once passed in front of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) and he stood up out of respect. When he was told the person in the coffin was Jewish and not Muslim, he said: ‘Was it not a living (soul)?’”

The Holy Quran says in Chapter 41, Verse 34 and 35: "Repel (evil) with what is better. Then will he, between whom and thee was hatred, become as it were thy friend and intimate. And no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint". I am sure the terrorists also congratulate each other after killings and bombarding people and places what they belief are wrong. Human life is valuable and we do not have the right to be the judge. In fact we stand at the same place as any other in front of God- at least before evaluation. For what’s done is done but should not we be more concerned for our actions and doings, towards the country as per the situation, than celebrate from someone elses?