"Suno ik baat kehni hay" سنو! اک بات کہنی ہے

 گفتار کے غازی

 

سنو! اک بات کہنی ہے
سنو! باتیں ہزاروں ہیں
مگر اک مخمصہ بھی ہے
یہی مشکل کہ ان باتوں کو
ہم الفاظ کی صورت میں
ڈھالیں گے بھلا کیونکر
کہ یہ الفاظ کی صورت گری بھی
پیشۂِ آذر کی طرح
ایک مشکل فن ہے
جس کو سیکھنا
ہر اک کے بس کی بات
ہے اور نہ کبھی ہوگی
کہ یہ فن تو عطا ہے
اور عطا ہر ایک کو
سب کچھ نہیں ہوتا



مگر جو بات کہنی ہے
اسے کہنا بھی لازم ہے
کوئی اظہار کا ذریعہ
کہیں ایسا بھی تو ہوگا
جو ان الفاظ کی صورت گری
سے ماورا
احساس کی توحید سے تشکیل پاتا ہو
جو ہم آہنگ ذہنوں کو
کسی نادیدہ ڈوری میں پروتا ہو
کوئی ہوگی کہیں ایسی بھی تو دنیا
جہاں احساس ہی خود
رابطے کا ایک ذریعہ ہو
جہاں الفاظ کے بے جان بت
بے وقعتی کا طوق پہنے
بے بسی کی اک علامت ہوں
جہاں جذبوں کی سچائی مقدّم ہو



مگر جو بات کہنی ہے
تجھے قصے سنانے ہیں
بنا الفاظ کے کہنا کہاں ممکن؟
کہ ہم گفتار کے غازی
بنا الفاظ کے کچھ کر نہیں سکتے
تو کیوں نہ یوں کریں
الفاظ اپنے معتبر کرلیں
اور ان کو اپنے دل کی ترجمانی دیں
اگر الفاظ سچے ہوں
تو احساسات سے خالی نہیں ہوتے
کہ جذبوں کا خدا
بےجان بت کو زندگی دے کر
اسے تعظیم کے قابل بناتا ہے
اسے انساں بناتا ہے!



ہدایت الله
۲۰۱۷

Oath and role models

ارحم کی کلاس دوسری منزل پر تھی اور اس کا بیگ اتنا بھاری تھا کہ اس سے اٹھائے نہیں اٹھتا تھا۔ مجبوراً ہم نے اس کے لئے اسکول کی ایک آیا جی سے بات کی کہ بیگ اوپر لے جانے میں اس کی مدد کر لیا کرے۔ یہ انتظام کچھ عرصہ بخوبی چلتا رہا۔

ارحم ساتویں جماعت میں ہو گیا اور اسے ہاؤس کیپٹن (house captain) کی سیش (sash) مل گئی۔ ساتھ ہی اس کا بیگ مزید بھاری ہوگیا۔ سیش ملنے کے اگلے دن جب میں بچوں کو اسکول چھوڑنے گیا تو ارحم کہنے لگا کہ آج کے بعد وہ اپنا بیگ خود اٹھائے گا۔ میں نے اس وقت بات سنی ان سنی کردی لیکن بعد میں جب اس سے وجہ پوچھی تو کہنے لگا۔ "بابا میں نے ہاؤس کیپٹن کا اوتھ (oath) لیا ہے جس میں لکھا ہے کہ میں باقی بچّوں کے لئے رول ماڈل (role model) بنوں گا۔ اگر میرا بیگ آیا لے جائے گی تو بچّے کہیں گے کہ یہ کیسا رول ماڈل ہے جو اپنا بیگ خود نہیں لے جا سکتا۔" میں نے قدرے حیرانی سے پوچھا۔ "تمہیں اپنا حلف یاد ہے؟" اس نے کہا۔ "جی ہاں، ظاہر ہے۔" اور پھر اس نے مجھے اپنا حلف پڑھ کر سنا دیا۔

میں کافی دیر تک سوچتا رہا کہ جس طرح ایک بچّے کو اپنے اٹھائے ہوئے حلف کا احساس ہے اسی طرح اگر ہماری قوم کے سب عہدیداروں کو اپنے حلف کا احساس ہوجائے تو ہم کہاں سے کہاں پہنچ جائیں اور جس طرح ایک بچّے کو اپنے رول ماڈل ہونے کا احساس ہے اسی طرح اگر ہم بڑوں کو بھی یہ احساس ہو جائے تو ہمارے بچّے کہاں سے کہاں پہنچ جائیں۔ پھر مجھے خیال آیا کہ ارحم تو بچّہ ہے۔ ناسمجھ ہے۔ جب عملی زندگی میں قدم رکھے گا تو اس اخلاقی رومانویت (moral romanticism) سے نکل آئے گا۔ کیونکہ بہرحال ہم بڑے ہیں اور زیادہ سمجھدار ہیں۔

Religion and Culture

Religion and culture often intermingle and overlap to an extent that often it's quite hard to differentiate between them. There are areas where religion dominates culture and there are occasions where culture overrides religion. Newly acquired scientific knowledge is fast becoming the third factor shaping our social fabric. The society progresses by an intelligent interaction between religio-cultural complex and the newly acquired scientific knowledge though it's a slow and tedious process and takes a time longer than a lifetime.

Gullu Butt and our judicial system

Gullu Butt has been freed on bail! 

The news is yet another evidence of our failing judicial system which fails to provide justice even if the evidence against a criminal is abundant. We can't blame the judiciary alone. It actually involves the whole system starting from Police as investigators, the Prosecutors, the Witnesses, the Lawers, the Judiciary and finally the Executive. It also includes the Legislative which fails to make necessary laws. 

In short, it's our failure as a nation that criminals don't get punished and take the Law for granted. 

It all starts at birth!

Learning is a continuous process which starts right from the moment we breathe for the very first time though some might argue that it starts even before that when we are exposed to numerous factors affecting our physiology during our in utero life. Whenever it starts, it surely continues throughout our life till we breathe our last though some still might argue that learning continues even after that while we continue our search for perfection!

During the course of our life we radiate whatever we learn. This 'radiation' makes the basis of teaching which can either be passive if it involves just the way we behave or active if it involves a deliberate effort to train others. Imparting knowledge or education requires understanding human psychae and can be improved by systematically studying effective methods of educating others.

Physiology of belief

Every belief has a portion which can never be logically explained or scientifically proved. To make it easier for the believers, the belief organizes a system of induced preoccupation. It demands every believer to dedicate some of the time for rituals focusing on their belief and keep repeating them. More the number of repetitions more the preoccupation and stronger becomes the belief. A stage comes in the process of this preoccupation when the belief becomes an obsession and then a delusion and the believer starts actually seeing things what he believes in. This is the ultimate aim of every belief and anyone at this stage can do anything for his belief including killing or get killed.

Induced preoccupation is accentuated by synchronized repetition of belief fragments which resonate with and thus amplify the already existing beliefs making the believer actually see what he believes.  That is why believers of any faith see what they believe when in trance while meditating. This seems to be more of a neuronal phenomenon and needs to be scientifically studied to get an objective insight into belief systems. However any metaphysical experience with tangible physical outcome seen by others too would not be explained just by preoccupation-obsession-delusion triad and would require some sort of spiritual deliberation instead of a purely neuronal explanation. One can make an active search for such metaphysical phenomena and subject them to scientific analysis to get to the truth.

The importance of synchronized repetition is quite evident from the fact that this is part of almost every belief system presently known. We don't know if the 'persona' resulting from the induced preoccupation following synchronized repetition of belief fragments survives the physical death of the believer or perishes along with his physical body. There is also a possibility that a strong belief could resonate with other minds and amplify their much weaker beliefs.

With the present little metaphysical knowledge every belief cannot be scientifically proven or rejected. Believing in something, though, seems good for psychological health as it makes life simple, gives hope and provides comfort in times of distress. It also produces an inner sense of security and being looked after helping us to face adverse situations. However many a time it is associated with a varying degree of 'religious exhibitionism' which annoys others and puts them on the back foot because of the apparently embedded message of انا خیر منکم (holier than thou). This 'religious exhibitionism' should be deliberately kept in check to avoid our belief becoming an obsession hampering our ability of logical reasoning. We should also avoid falling for the resultant delusions which might force us to make drastic changes in life at personal level or try imposing our belief on others one way or another.
Of course it's a fine balance and requires a lot of intellectual gimmickry.

Ghaza and Israel - پانچواں فریق

غزہ پر اِسرائیلی جارحیت کا تیسرا فریق مسلم دنیا ہے جس کی مجرمانہ خاموشی کے باعث اِسرائیل کو شہ ملتی ہے۔ اِس معاملے کا چوتھا فریق غیر مسلم مہذب دنیا اور اقوامَ متحدہ ہیں جو خود کو انسانی حقوق کا علمبردار کہتے ہیں لیکن اِس معاملے میں مکمل نہیں تو کسی حد تک اِسرائیل کے ساتھی ہیں۔

سوال یہ ہے کہ کیا اِس معاملے کا کوئی پانچواں فریق بھی ہے؟                             

Muslims' voice

Muslims throughout the world are in distress despite the fact that they comprise one fifth of the world population and sit on a land rich in natural resources. They don't have a say in world's affairs despite their geopolitical importance. In my view there are four areas which need their urgent attention.

First of all is education. Muslim countries need to focus to impart knowledge to the masses, develop educational institutions and dedicate funds for research which is genuine with equal opportunities to all segments of the society. The second factor is discipline. Muslims need to have a rule of law and a willing acceptance if discipline in all spheres of life. At the moment they represent more of a herd than well developed nation states. Their systems are either yet to develop or just being in rudimentary form. Unless there is a discipline, the masses will remain deprived with continuing unrest. Third factor is unity among all Muslim countries. There has to be a mechanism of bringing all Muslims together where they can voice together and where they can have a common policy at least regarding some issues. This needs ironing their differences within their ranks and files first. They can put aside some issues which are hard to be tackled for this purpose. There has to be a political body with representation of all Muslim countries which can function as the voice of all Muslims and can get itself heard in world's affairs. Fourth factor is independent policy making which is possible only if they are self reliant. Only self reliant people and nations can have the luxury of having self worth and at the moment Muslims are so badly dependent on others in one way or another. 

Time has come to seriously ponder on these issues and our leaders across the globe need to focus and act if we intend to be counted as a significant entity in the world. Failing this soon we'll just be history following others' dictates and resorting to collective prayers against atrocities committed against us. 

Perseverance

Life is marked by continuous struggle which requires setting up achievable goals and then working steadily to achieve them. It's probably right to say that giving up is death and anyone alive won't give up. 

Belief Vs obsession

Belief should give you hope, comfort in times of distress and a sense of security (even if false) instead of an obsession to act in a particular way without even thinking if it's rational and logical.

Atheist and Believer

In a mother's womb were two babies A and B. They were communicating with each other.

A: "Do you believe in life after delivery?"
B: "Why? Of course I do. There has to be something after delivery.  May be we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later."
A: "Nonsense, there is no life after delivery. What would that life be?"
B: "I don't know, but there will be more light than here. May be we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths."
A: "This is absurd! Walking is impossible. And eat with our mouths? Ridiculous. The umbilical cord supplies nutrition. Life after delivery is excluded. The umbilical cord is too short."
B: "I think there is something and may be it's different than it is here."
A: "No one has ever come back from there. Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery it is nothing but darkness and anxiety and it takes us nowhere."
B: "Well, I don't know, but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us."
A: "Mother?Do you believe there is a mother? Where is she now?"
B: "She is all around us. It is in her that we live. Without her this world would be no more."
A: "I don't see her, so it's logical that she doesn't exist."
B: "Sometimes when you're in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her. I believe there is a reality after delivery and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality."

A gentleman, law abiding atheist

A gentleman, law abiding atheist is a strange phenomenon and appears to be either lacking wits or courage to do what pleases him.

Why on God's earth an atheist should be good or do any good? What is his inspiration? Why should he be loyal in his relations? Why? Why? Why not do whatever he likes while evading law of the land? The question is why should he think positive? Why should he do good? Why should he not do whatever her likes? What is his inspiration to do good? Because for an atheist there is no God or a Devil and everything is fair what is necessary for his good provided he can evade law. Why should he be good? What is the source of his morality? 


The appreciation of an atheist who chooses to be a gentleman despite a belief that there is no God is agreed. The obvious derision in the top line is in fact an attempt to find the reason for it. I would now like to rephrase the line and say, 'What makes an atheist to choose being a gentleman and a law abiding citizen despite a belief that he could do whatever he likes except lack of wits to evade law or lack of courage to deal with opponents?'

Who frames the moral grounds for an atheist? In fact the source of all morality is religion. Atheists following moral standards are actually following religion without accepting God. Good for them and appreciated.
There is something deep inside every person which tells him what's right and what's wrong. We need to find the origin of that something. If it's just our parents and society then they can very well be wrong and there is no point following their dictates.

A well developed cerebral cortex might be the reason but this cortex was there for many thousand years as evolution is a damn slow process but still we see totally different morality standards a few thousand years ago. Religion has undoubtedly shaped morality among human beings and has given it a deeper meaning by associating it with the concept of a hereafter and God.

Religion is actually a solution to the problems an individual faces in community living and ensures to secure the interests of the whole community. So it's just that morality originates in religion and an atheist too acts on religion if he is a gentleman even if he does not believe in God!

There is nothing good or bad if you don't believe in God. The rules framed by human being at different times make some acts UNLAWFUL and ILLEGAL. Not everything unlawful is bad and not everything legal is good. For a dog there is nothing bad or good. What if you kill a person in the dead of the night and no one sees you. The law is not there. Is it okay? If not then why? What makes it bad? Law? No! That makes it illegal only. It's a stupidity to waste life following the law and be loyal if one is atheist. Why not evade the law and have fun? Why would one want to do good to others while one can get away with anything? So I really find no reason for the morality of an atheist except cowardice or lack of wits! 

Some people say that Ethics stem from humanitarian values, not from inherited beliefs repeated like a parrot. One wonders what is the origin of these humanitarian values. An atheist having morality actually follows religion in some spheres of life. Honesty, loyalty, caring are all religious dictates and anyone following them will enjoy its fruit. That is why some atheist societies thrive because they have adopted the Divine principles of Justice, Honesty, Loyalty and rule of law. Like tablet paracetamol will lower temperature even if you don't believe in it! 
 
Morality originates in spirit which is Divine! Every human being is blessed with a Divine element and that is the source of his morality. Without that there is no concept of evil and good. Anything good done is actually the expression of the same Divine element at different times of human history.

Sikandar, Media and Zamarud Khan!

Well, it can happen only in Pakistan! A mentally sick or reassured man driving through the Capital of a nuclear armed country along with his wife, two kids and two semi automatic guns suddenly starts firing and soon demands Islamic shariah in the country and removal of the present rulers.

Soon comes our media, the free media, in action. A media which knows no rules. A media which like a vulture keeps looking for the dead thrive on the dead meat. A media which even cooks stories if there is none available. The malignant media gives a continuous coverage to a sick man and adds to the uncertainty by blaming the inefficiency of government for all what was happening. Comments like 'we're a failed state' and 'failure of institutions' started echoing. Some speculated a Martial law was imminent. Media would not follow any rule even if asked and would start arguing with Police. It's certainly a malignant organ of this state and needs immediate surgery followed by radiotherapy.

Police failed to keep things under control and the man kept dictating things while media kept increasing its rating spreading uncertainty and terror right in the Capital of this country and there comes our hero to the scene. Without any mandate Zamarud Khan, MNA and Chairman Pakistan Bait Ul Maal jumped in to the scene and almost got himself killed. Zamarud Khan is a dead man walking and owes his life to Sikandar who spared his life despite enough time and reasons for that. The hero certainly crossed the boundaries of bravery to reach the land of sheer stupidity. The media without realizing the risks involved in this unwise act started portraying him as a hero who brought an end to the drama.

The whole event was a great example of adhoc-ism so deeply engraved in our national fabric. The media would simply not agree to stay in limits. The police failed to act professionally and it was deplorable to see police commandos firing in air after the man was down and doing nothing.
What we direly need is to evolve systems and a rule of law. Media, public representatives, public servants and everyone must follow the systems in place. The law-makers have the responsibility to make these systems for us.

Will we do what we are supposed to do and avoid doing what we are not?

Pakistani Media & Laws of Privacy

Pakistani Media must differentiate between an accused and a convicted criminal. Unless proven guilty everyone should be treated as innocent and his/her laws of privacy and dignity respected. Media should be different from a dog sniffing around and then barking and running after everyone. They should learn from the Western media instead of following Bollywood style movies. At present we all are at the mercy of any clown who attacks us with a camera and crew. They have have no respect for our privacy and can prove us demons in no time. 

Laws of privacy need to be framed and media be made more responsible.

Allah ko yehi manzoor tha!

'Allah ko yehi manzoor tha' and 'issi main behtari hogi' are the two most frequently used expressions when we see someone facing unfavourable situations. This approach is religiously correct and psychologically excellent helping people to Accept what has happened and move on with Hope and positive thinking.The problem however arises when we use these expressions to hide our mistakes and shortcomings and try to use them for consoling others to save our skin.

In my view in any professional setup, we should try finding tangible reasons for any unfavourable happenings and rectify them along with fixing responsibility if any instead of putting an end to all questions by saying ' Allah ko yehi manzoor tha' and 'issi main behtari hogi'!!

For individuals to move on with Acceptance and Hope this approach works fine but for Institutions and Nations a scientific and logical approach is needed to avoid similar happenings and ensure progress in life.

A senior psychiatrist and a dear friend wrote on the above lines,

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You are probably referring to use of religion as a defence to hide the real underlying issues. While this may be adaptive in times of severe stress, using this everywhere may indicate that person is not willing to address the root of the problem and avoiding personal responsibility. While accepting the events(which happened due to our choices or acts) as part of one's Taqdeer wouldn't mean that the responsibility for that choice and its consequence rests on Allah Almighty. One needs to analyse and try to rectify the reasons of a problem whenever possible and take responsibility for one's decisions. Kindly reflect on this verse

 یہ اس لیے کہ جو نعمت خدا کسی قوم کو دیا کرتا ہے جب تک وہ خود اپنے دلوں کی حالت نہ بدل ڈالیں خدا اسے نہیں بدلا کرتا۔ اور اس لیے کہ خدا سنتا جانتا ہے ۔ 53:8

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Let's not misuse these expressions and try to find reasons for a problem, accept responsibility and take corrective measures.

Predictable Lunar/Islamic calender

How to celebrate Islamic festivals simultaneously across the globe is a dilemma we're facing these days. Following are random thoughts which came to my mind as a solution to this problem.

1. A predictable lunar calender can be made for any location in the world.

2. As per Shariah we have to fast and have Eid when the new moon is sighted. There is no known  radius of applicability of the moon sighted for changing lunar calendar date in Islam. The geopolitical boundaries we talk about are not Divine. If we would have been part of an Islamic Union with our capital at Mecca, moon sighting there would have been applicable here too.
 

3. We need to decide a location in the world which could work as a reference point for the proposed lunar calender. For religious reasons Haram Shareef is the best location and people would have less problems with that. However any other site can be agreed upon and this can be a place where the moon becomes visible at the earliest. 

4. At the proposed site a size of the new moon could be agreed upon to be labeled as Visible and Sighted with naked eye. 

5. A predictable lunar calender could be made which would be applicable to the whole world. We don't have to actually see the moon just like we don't look at the sunset for azaan for maghrib prayers, instead we just look at the clock. 

6. Whenever new moon reaches the Visible and Sighted size at Haram Shareef or the agreed site it would be applicable for the whole world because nowhere there has been any mention of radius of applicability of the moon sighted in any location. Moon sighted at one point can be considered applicable for the whole world as the geo-political boundaries do not matter when one rises above the level of Earth and look at things from a universal or planetary point of view. 

7. There is one point against the system namely different time zones and people often mention prayer time differences as an evidence against this system but I feel that is a different issue altogether and depends on daily positions of the Earth in relation to The Sun. Even a little deviation at places should be acceptable for making a predictable Lunar calender. Some places might not have moon visible at that time but when it is sighted at one side it would be extended to other places too.

8. This suggestion needs to be discussed at OIC level and a solution found. That could be taken as some performance of this otherwise toothless organization. 

Comments are welcome!

قابلِ رحم قوم

Pity the nation . . . . . .

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, the Honourable Judge, Supreme Court of Pakistan, in his additional note to the detailed verdict in contempt of court case against Gilani wrote following lines (using the format of a poem by Khalil Gibran) which will be remembered for a long time to come. . . .

Pity the nation that achieves nationhood in the name of a religion
but pays little heed to truth, righteousness and accountability
which are the essence of every religion.

Pity the nation that proclaims democracy as its polity
but restricts it to queuing up for casting of ballots only
and discourages democratic values.

Pity the nation that measures honour with success
and respect with authority,
that despises sublime and cherishes mundane,
that treats a criminal as a hero and considers civility as weakness
and that deems a sage a fool and venerates the wicked.

Pity the nation that adopts a Constitution
but allows political interests to outweigh constitutional diktat.

Pity the nation that demands justice for all
but is agitated when justice hurts its political loyalty.

Pity the nation whose servants treat their solemn oaths
as nothing more than a formality before entering upon an office.

Pity the nation that elects a leader as a redeemer
but expects him to bend every law to favour his benefactors.

          Pity the nation whose leaders seek martyrdom

          through disobeying the law

          than giving sacrifices for the glory of law

          and who see no shame in crime.

Pity the nation that is led by those
who laugh at the law
little realizing that the law shall have the last laugh.

Pity the nation that launches a movement for rule of law
but cries foul when the law is applied against its bigwig,
that reads judicial verdicts through political glasses
and that permits skills of advocacy to be practised
more vigorously outside the courtroom than inside.

Pity the nation that punishes its weak and poor
but is shy of bringing its high and mighty to book.

Pity the nation that clamours for equality before law
but has selective justice close to its heart.

Pity the nation that thinks from its heart
and not from its head.

Indeed, pity the nation

that does not discern villainy from nobility.

~ Justice Asif Saeed Khosa

Pakistani Media

Media, in this era of information outbreak plays a very important role in making and shaping public opinion. It affects the overall psychological status of a society and can play a very positive role in promoting hope, optimism and unity among ranks and files of a nation. More important, in this regard, are different Television News channels which have mushroomed in Pakistan over a period of past few years. 

It is unfortunate to note that because of a competition among these channels to win more and more viewership, they have adopted ways and means which amount to invading people's privacy and many a time playing with their emotions apart from promoting a Western culture. They would continue looking for anything negative and keep projecting it over and over again. One feels as if there is nothing good happening anywhere. This pathological phenomenon becomes even more evident in the wake of some disaster and these people cross all limits while trying to 'break the news first' or show something not shown by others. All of these channels often so closely resemble the evening newspapers who would make headlines out of nothing.

Taking the example of the recent Bhoja air crash, the role of Media has been deplorable. Every channel has been trying to show more than the other. Imagine a family in which there are sudden, unexpected deaths and they have to deal with the onslaught of Media people asking silly questions like, 'how do you feel?' and 'what would you like to say about what has happened?' They keep showing scenes from the site of the crash and keep adding to the pain and suffering. They would label people have been stealing things from the site of the accident even if they have been just collecting them. Sometimes one feels that they have an agenda of spreading pessimism and negative sentiments in this otherwise deeply troubled nation. Pakistani Media, I feel, at times acts just like a vulture having a scalpel in its beak, hunting down corpses and dissecting them for its survival. 

Media does have a positive role and it has effectively unearthed and highlighted many scandals of corruption which would not have been otherwise possible. It, however, needs to mature and define its limits. Cheap commercialism, unnecessary sensationalism, spreading pessimism and negative sentiments, working against national interest, invading people's privacy and promoting Western culture must be avoided at all costs. Instead of being a vulture, Media should act  like an eagle, flying high above, keeping everything in sight while maintaining its dignity and pride.

The Siachen Tragedy

The world's highest battlefield known as Siachen brought a tragedy for the valiant soldiers defending their homeland in the worst possible conditions where weather is probably more dangerous than the enemy itself. An avalanche buried 135 Pakistani soldiers in Gayari sector at 0600 AM on 7 April 2012 and is feared to become one of the major incidents of weather-related disasters in Siachen glacier.

Rescue efforts are on using sniffing dogs, helicopters and troops on ground. Heavy Engineers machinery have been moved from Rawalpindi by air. May as many lives be saved as possible even if it needs a miracle. 

The picture is here.

Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited Siachen on Sunday to supervise the rescue operation launched to recover 135 soldiers and civilians trapped under the avalanche. He said that efforts were underway to acquire latest technical equipment for the rescue and emphasized that calamity in no way should affect the morale of the troops defending the motherland at the highest battlefield. He said Pakistan Army has always risen to the occasion and will come through this challenge as well.

The role of Media has not been up to the mark so far and they didn't care to stop frivolous humour even for a day. We do expect our vibrant Media to pay due tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives while defending their homeland. Our hearts and minds are with our brave soldiers and their families and friends. Everyone please remember these brave soldiers who are still under tons of snow in Giyari sector.

Weather is cloudy in Skardu and surrounding area making Heli sorties technically difficult since evening on 8 Apr. Any good news is yet to be awaited. Prayers are required for all those trapped under the snow. List of those affected has been released and can be viewed here.