Category: Articles

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan “Burai de jarh”, “the root cause of all evil” arrived in Lahore a couple of days back. He quickly launched his “mandi mowaishian” or “animal auction” for sale and purchase of Punjabi MPAs. If there was a university program in Machiavellian manipulation, Mr. Zardari would have a PHD and would…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan I was at a BBQ last weekend. A bright young Pakistani entrepreneur, Mujtaba Hameed came upto me for a chat. He said “Uncle I learn from your analysis based on substantive arguments. However what I really enjoy is the blend with events from your memory lane. Please keep doing it. I…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan “Rabb naray kay ghusun” is an unresolved dilemma spanning generations. It translates “Is God close or the punch thrown at you?” In this debate “God or the punch”, the pious claim that God is present in the main aorta, the arterial trunk that feeds the body. The realists state the…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan A friend visited Canada recently. We spent quality time together enjoying the weather and visiting breathtaking,lush green sites. After two weeks he suddenly became restless and wanted to return to Pakistan. Sitting around a fire in my backyard I enquired why the rush? You look relaxed and seem to be…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan “Yakay Wali” starring the top heroine of her times,Musarrat Nazir was a blockbuster of its times. Released in 1957, it broke all records of popularity, running for 50 weeks in one cinema. Producer Bari Malik raked in tons of money enabling him to buy a film studio named Bari Studios.…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan There is a saying in Punjabi “ek boti laye bakra mar ditta”. It translates “killing a whole sheep to eat one piece of meat.” That is exactly what happened in Pakistan. Sharifs and Zardari wanted to end accountability. PM Shahbaz Sharif and CM Hamza were on the verge of indictment…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan Iqbal alias Bala was a hardened criminal reputed to be a top “rasageer”, acronym for a cattle thief, around Lyallpur. My uncle Dr. Abdul Majeed Khan, a veterinarian, was a dedicated cattle breeder. He went to great lengths to assemble his flock of milking buffaloes. A big burly gentleman, it…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan 23rd March 1973 I participated in a joint opposition’s jalsa organized in Liaqat Bagh, Rawalpindi. It was meant to be an event wherein parties opposed to Bhutto’s rule gathered to express their positions. That was not how Bhutto regime viewed it. They decided to teach their opponents a lesson. The…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan In my younger days I have been at the receiving end of a police “lathi’. Believe me it really hurts. The semi-literate constable acts on command. The viciousness of his strike depends on the meanness of his superior’s orders. There are two distinct patterns. A regular “lathi charge” aims to…

STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan “Sau Ganday we khaday tay chittar wee” is a popular Punjabi saying. A conceptual translation would be “indecision and stupidity cause great suffering”. This folklore is associated with Ranjit Singh. While rendering decision on a misdemeanor by a poor farmer, he punished the perpetuator to either eat 100 onions or…