Capitalism's Achilles heel by Raymond W Baker

From the very first line where Raymond bundles criminals, terrorists and multinational corporations as one, got me hooked, but his much hyped up self-profile about his work and life experience slightly put me off as well. Raymond has tried to employ a sarcastic style, where he tries to belittle various corporations making gains from loopholes in government financial laws. Most of what he lists is common knowledge for me as their nefarious activities are pretty blatant in third world countries. Similarly, the corruption of Pakistani politicians, Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif as well as the Pakistan military is also common knowledge as it is widely reported in the local press. For not only do politicians think locally while criminals think globally, most third world media can only report locally as well. None of the local politicians in the third work really care about what gets reported in their local media as long as the global media giants don't pick up on their story. 

Most of the book is about ways to improve free market economy by stemming out all known ills from it in order to reduce the gap between rich and poor. But I fail to see how and who will actually implement such global changes. Raymond makes economy sound like religion claiming that free market based capatilism isn't bad, it is actually the people running it who are actually to blame. I wish it was as simple as that. The only way economy will improve is protectionism all over again. Transparent Protectionism that is, as I believe most corruption occurs when deals are shrouded in secrecy hidden away from all stakeholders. This is where the local medias can play a role in bringing the details of every deal promptly to the people for effective scrutiny. 

The book was a pretty difficult read for me as most economic books are generally. Will economics ever make sense to me?

The Second Ottoman Empire: Political and Social Transformation in the Early Modern World by Baki Tezcan

Can you guess who took the first stab at writing the first history of the world? None other than the indefatigable Arab Ibn Khaldun, who is considered the father of modern history. His Muqaddimah reads like a scientific study of past events and was followed by number of other Muslim historians clearly motivated by him. Baki follows lost this tradition in Islamic cultures. A tradition of critical analysing their own history. I found his confrontational style very very satisfying indeed. Why he asks, is one regicide (Britain) considered as progress as another (Ottoman, Turkey) as a sign of decline? Indeed a most pertinent observation which must be pondered in detail unfortunately before history can be re-written again. For to take down existing opinions is far more difficult than defining new ones. Baki’s attempt is most admirable but needs to be urgently repeated all over the world where orientalism has left a deep and ugly mark.

While reading about the battle between Kanun and Sharia, I had a fantastic revelation. If Sharia was Allah’s Kanun then surely it must include all of His creation, which can only mean that the real and proper Sharia has to be His Laws of Nature. For it is only the Laws of Nature which every created creature is bound to once created. All other laws including the man’s descriptions of Sharia are therefore redundant and obsolete as every kanun changes with change of the Ruler.

This book presents a brilliant analysis of the Ottoman history. Who really controlled the infamous fracticides? What attributes were required to remain a Sultan? Who really called the shots, the absolutists or the Constitutionalists? Baki has provided compelling evidence to demonstrate how the power shifted from absolutism to constitutionalism after the Ottomans started to rely on Devshirme to run their huge state. The infamous ‘Harem’, instead of a degenerate sexpot of orgy was in effect an institution for producing and grooming future Sultans with the help of a very able class of civil servants supplied by Devshirme. I have a clear image of an all powerful Ottoman royal family kept in constant check by the constitutional Janissaries, making sure that every Sultan was able to tow the policy agreed by their selected viziers. Small wonder that the Ottomans were able to rule such a huge kingdom for so long.

Baki details the first known regicide of Osman II and argues pretty convincingly that he was killed because he was openly trying to rebel against the constitutional vice, made up of Janissaries as the mighty Ottoman army had become a financial hub rather than a fighting force. Pretty much like the Turkish or Pakistani army of today. Who says we can't learn anything from history?

The book also explains the social classes in the Empire with power in the hand of the Askeri class who owned 80% of the resources. The devshirme were also converted from a once potent fighting force to financial ombudsmen, collecting taxes and conducting various types of business. 

The reasons of the demise of the Sultanate? Well Baki argues that the Askeris did not take up Capitalism and Corporatism as vigorously as modernists in Britain for instance. There was a different approach in land management as well rather than the popularly held view of loss of the vast tracts of land. Again Baki takes a very apt analogy with Britain losing America only to rebound and take up India and vast straits of Africa through largely a policy of aggressive corporate trade policy, which is still being followed generally. There was also the absence of the bourgeois against Lords and Barons in the Sultanate which could be a significant factor in the loss of Ottoman prestige as the bourgeois was slow to take up the nationalism. 

In the end, I have come to a very valuable conclusion. History should be written by a representative of the natives, as well as outsiders, leaving the readers to conclude for themselves.

The Zanzibar Chest: A Memoir of Love and War by Aidan Hartley

Classic, absolutely classic memoir of a very fulfilled life. Part of the narrative was as good as the 'Heart of Darkness'. What a story, kept me captivated and engaged throughout the 440 odd pages. For me the most interesting aspect was the self reflection of the White colonisation of Africa. I tend to agree with Hartley's dad. They should have never gone into Africa. Whence gone in they should never have left it. Arabs colonised Africa before the Europeans, and they stayed on, slowly converting the local cultures to Islam. Now it is impossible to differentiate between the two races in Africa. This book is a homage to the few but extremely courageous Europeans who decided to stay on, long after their mother-ship had decided to go back. Aidan's experiences in some of the most vile and despicable massacres in Africa clearly demonstrates the important role of  white man still has in controlling human disasters on unimaginable scale in Africa. Perhaps the most important insight I have had from the book is the working of the Western media when covering human catastrophes, where there is an implicit policy of fitting the pigeon holes of the Charities, reader’s fatigue, and stock market reactions. It does seem like that traditional media has become pretty ineffective and needs to be completely redefined.

Read the book if you want to witness the real face of human nature.

Heaven's command by Jan Morris

The book catalogues the psychological change of the British in the aftermath of the American Independence leading them into an age of Imperialism. The British used their experience of the American colony  which was basically that ‘more successful an overseas settlement, the more likely it was to break away from the mother country’, to abolish slavery which gave it a huge moral high. Thus the abolishment of slavery, which seemed to an almost suicidal step economically was turned into a huge moralistic gain with the help of the Evangelist movement as the main trigger for Imperialism.

Jan’s picks on very pertinent examples of this new moral and righteous Imperialist crusade in Africa where the English used slavery as the very basis for subjugating any opposition like the Boers, and in India where the customs of Sati and Thuggee were obliterated using the same ethical argument. These and other similar noble causes were exploited by the righteous British to morally subjugate the native population into submission, which meant that the natives were always playing a catch up to the British, thus ensuring that the colony was never actually be allowed to be as successful as the mother country. That also explains why the British classes in India for example, always seemed much more closer to the moral, judicious and humanist British idealist model as compared to their actual counterparts living in Britain. The British in India needed to project a perfect image in order to justify their superiority over the natives so as not to repeat the same mistake as their American colony. 

The book presents one incident after another on the timeline of the Empire, analysing the change on the British people as they slowly began to realise the magnitude of their possessions. The cornerstone of the Empire is basically a mishmash of Christian Evangelists principles and Darwin’s Evolutionary theory. The moral justifications of racism is given in the light of the Original sin, with different colored people in tougher plight, due to their level of sin. 

By the end of this massive first book, we are left with a British character whose

Chauvinistic is not very cruel.

Racialism is more ignorant than malicious.

Skin deep militarism.

Passion for imperialist grandeur was more transient and superficial, more of a show piece than love of power.

Visible conceit due to unparalleled level of achievement.

Cannot wait to read the second book in the series……...

I am Malala by Christina Lamb

The first part of the book is a pretty ordinary description of Malala’s family life and a brief version of Christina Lamb’s history of Pakistan. It is from the second part where the story begins to get really interesting with the Taliban slowly moving into Malala’s beloved Swat valley. It seems that the Taliban are happy to use fiery Maulanas as their mouthpieces while they remain in the background judging the results of their version of Islam. The reactions of the common man in Swat are brilliantly captured by Malala and I can see why this memoir is being dubbed as similar to Anne Frank’s diary. This also explains why Malala’s story has such struck such an emotional chord in the Western world, although most in Pakistan are still unconvinced about her plight which is indeed a sad state of affairs, but completely understandable. As unfortunately the Taliban still remain a visible and potent threat to the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan, who are behind most of the terrorist activities in the whole region. As mentioned in the book so lucidly, most Pakistanis cannot simply see anything bad in the Islamic message preached by the Taliban sponsored Maulana’s like Fazlulla till the time the same hardline regime takes over. Swat, therefore resembles a microcosm of Taliban regime takeover. So instead of criticising Malala for being a Western puppet, they should take heed, empathise with the people of Swat and reject the Taliban and all their sponsored Maulanas before the whole country is affected.

I failed to see why Malala was so against the Pakistan army in her story. Her criticism seemed to be based on the premise that Pakistan Army was all powerful so how could let the Taliban into Swat valley? Therefore there must be some elements of the Army supporting the Taliban. Well the answer seems to be in her own book. Taliban use Islam as justification for their actions, and most Pakistanis are religious, thus reluctant to reject Taliban outright. Unfortunately, the all powerful Pakistani Army is also predominantly Muslim, therefore are affected by similar apprehensions towards the Taliban, hence the indecision. I am amazed that Malala and Christina Lamb have compared the Pakistan army with the Taliban over and over again in this book, without giving any evidence to any alleged atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army. This is a gross injustice to the perception of Pakistan Army. There was a civilian Islamist elected government in KPK when the Taliban infiltrated Swat valley. If anyone is to blame, it has to be the people of KPK for electing Islamist parties as their representatives. The reality is that most Pakistani are devout Islamists, therefore shy away from rejecting the pious looking Taliban with their vanguard fiery Maulana’s firing verbal Islamist missiles. It is not the Army responsible, it is the confused Islamic opinion of the general populace which is to blame. There real battle is change of narrative not guns.

Also Malala and Christina have made repeated references to the corrupt politicians of pakistan who don't pay taxes. I have news for them, no one does apart from the salaried class who are deducted at source. Has Malala’s honourable dad ever paid tax himself? So if most ‘honorable’ Pakistanis refuse to pay tax, who will pay the government salaries?

All in all the book is very interesting when depicting life under the Taliban in Swat. The rest of the book was pretty ordinary for a Pakistani like me. 

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

Brilliant analysis

This book is as thought provoking and stimulating as Malcolm's Blink. Malcolm is really utilising the power of his autodidact opinions on known principles across all aspects of life, from parenting to politics and medicine. Whether you agree with him or not, you have to read him if only to appreciate his critical analysis of each example. I bought the audio version of the book which was narrated by the Malcolm himself and really enjoyed the experience as Malcolm was able to convince me from the preamble to the hidden outcome of every so called perceived weak aspects of life.

The end of India by Khushwant Singh

Every organised religion harkens back to an imagined  glorifies past and opposes change.

In Europe, it's secularists had to fight off Christianity to develop, a process which had not happened in Islam, resulting in backward and non democratic societies. In India, Hinduism has to be countered by secularism among its 80% Hindu population rather than any of its Muslims, Christian or Sikh minorities. Khushwant finds it incredible how the Hindu masses have been led to believe by the religious leaning Hindu leaders that they are being discriminated in their own country. Hard to believe isn't it? But unfortunately, focus on any religion will inevitably lead a more narrow minded and restricted approach.

Hailing from a minority religion himself, Khushwant makes some poignant points about the rising fundamentalism in India. 

If Nazi fascism had succeeded in a literate Germany, won't India be much easier?

If Bhindranwale succeeded in gathering a substantial following from the pulpit of gurdwaras, imagine what damage any elected government can have in preaching the message of hate using much greater resources?

Communalism has always been and will always remain in any any culture where two or more religions share resources.

Congress was first to exploit religion for electoral gains, effectively showing BJP how to galvanise masses using the religious rhetoric. 

Congress motive of maintaining Muslims and Dalits as oppressed classes is to appear as their only saviours.

Most heroes in India are non-Muslims who fought Muslims.

Khushwant also defines the Indian version of secularism which basically means the state acknowledging all religions instead of detaching itself. 

Khushwant sums up the book by presenting a new religion for India with the motto, 'work is worship but worship is not work

Controversially Yours by Shoaib

Not only has the book been written by someone else but looks like quite a bit of the material is also influenced by the writer. Like Shoaib mentions that his school had no counsellor. Being a Pakistani myself, I can pretty much confirm that very very few schools in Pakistan have counsellors, so I don't know what Shoaib is trying to prove here especially when you consider his pretty low middle class upbringing? Maybe he was trying to justify his extra ordinary naughty behaviour when in school and college? A more likely explanation is that he was just acting up in an attempt to get noticed as he had desire from an early age for success, both for malarial goods, travelling and fame. 

Shoaib also rightly credits Rawalpindi Cricket Club for grooming him. This club has patrons within the Pakistan Army which itself is the most merit aware institution in Pakistan. 

Another aspect which helped Shoaib in his formative years is his positive outlook. He has acknowledged that he avoided people with negative outlooks on life and focused instead only on the positives. This single minded devotion to success probably also helped his chances in the cutthroat Pakistani cricket youth scene. 

Shoaib comes across as a for-ever-angry-young-man, which although is a necessary state in the beginning when you are trying to make it but has to discarded when you have made it. His book is filled with stark contradictions, no one helped him but there are quite a few named by him who have helped in with their time and money in the same book; seniors never groomed him but there seem to be many seniors like Majid, Waqar and Imran encouraging him in his own words at other places in the book; BCCP never helped him but the Chairman sent him to Australia to get his suspect bowling action certified.

The thing is that coming from a low background helped him rise above the competition. It generated a desire of monster proportions inside him to succeed with his family having no other options but to allow him to keep playing. Most middle class families would diverted his energies into some other mundane 9-5 job.

And most of all Shaoib's anti-Pakistani rants were very difficult to digest. He is a cricketer not a politician or an philosopher. There were sections in the book where Shoaib was trying to solve Pakistani issues like debt and joblessness. I wish he had had the sense to edit some of these vile comments from his book but then it wouldn't exactly make it controversial would it? Shoaib needs to realise that maybe when he complains over and over again how no one listens to him in Pakistan he actually means that he doesn't listen to everyone around him? How can he discredit his country of birth when all he achieved was in the same dis functional country, the same inept system and the same unimpressed cricket control board? If everyone was so apathetic then how was he ever selected for the Pakistan cricket team? 

All in all the book makes excellent readings, with unique inside into the world of Pakistani cricket seen from the eyes of a cricketer coming from an ordinary lower class family. I wish most other players would take the time out and write similar books about their lives as it does make very interesting insight into what-makes-Pakistan-tick. This book is politically incorrect and candid view of life as viewed by Shoaib who seems does seem to love controversy. 

Is this chip on the shoulder attitude prevalent in most Pakistanis?

Shoaib seemed to have learnt his lesson by the end of his chequered career in the form of this most valuable advice for any budding cricketer,' it's best to relax, keep your mouth shut, not go complaining from pillor to post, and to remain alert for opportunities. There is a solution to all of one's problems but they will appear in their own time, so one must learn to sit it out and stop panicking.'

Nice Shoaib Bhai, this alone merits 5 stars for your book effort at least. If not for anything else just one chapter called 'The dressing room' makes hilarious reading.

My Booky Wooky by Russell Brand

Wow-vacious, what a wonderful and intimate encounter with Russell Brand. A true and modern revolutionary in the set-piece life of today. The book left a very positive message of life on me. Richard’s unique take on life, treating every one of his idiosyncrasies as a positive instead of trying to blend in with the majority culture surrounding him, left an impression of great hope in me. What also impressed me was his ability to forgive his parents over and over again, for forgiving is the first step towards forgetting, before we can truly move on. There you have it, this almost seems like a religious message does it not? Russell has brought out the angel in me with his very honest and thought provoking autobiography. I have these religious experiences when humbled. Although not religious I do tend to resort to religion when facing brilliance. I guess reading Russell has had the same affect on me.

The only slight bit of criticism I have is the language used in the book, which does require some knowledge of British lingo.

End of India by Khushwant Singh

Every organised religion harkens back to an imagined  glorifies past and opposes change.

In Europe, it's secularists had to fight off Christianity to develop, a process which had not happened in Islam, resulting in backward and non democratic societies. In India, Hinduism has to be countered by secularism among its 80% Hindu population rather than any of its Muslims, Christian or Sikh minorities. Khushwant finds it incredible how the Hindu masses have been led to believe by the religious leaning Hindu leaders that they are being discriminated in their own country. Hard to believe isn't it? But unfortunately, focus on any religion will inevitably lead a more narrow minded and restricted approach.

Hailing from a minority religion himself, Khushwant makes some poignant points about the rising fundamentalism in India.

• If Nazi fascism had succeeded in a literate Germany, won't India be much easier?
• If Bhindranwale succeeded in gathering a substantial following from the pulpit of gurdwaras, imagine what damage any elected government can have in preaching the message of hate using much greater resources?
• Communalism has always been and will always remain in any any culture where two or more religions share resources.
• Congress was first to exploit religion for electoral gains, effectively showing BJP how to galvanise masses using the religious rhetoric.
• Congress motive of maintaining Muslims and Dalits as oppressed classes is to appear as their only saviours.
• Most heroes in India are non-Muslims who fought Muslims.

Khushwant also defines the Indian version of secularism which basically means the state acknowledging all religions instead of detaching itself.

Khushwant sums up the book by presenting a new religion for India with the motto, 'work is worship but worship is not work.'

Saudi Arabia exposed by John R. Bradley

The real and proper Taliban.

Imagine the Taliban ruling Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, but this time they are sitting on top of the cheapest reserve of oil, as well as hosts of the most sacred house of Islamic God. Imagine the gravitas they will be able to generate not only with the oil starved West but also with the spiritually famished billion odd Muslims of the world! This is the impression reading this book left on me of the Saudi Arabian culture and society.

John starts by presenting most of the cosmetic effects of Wahabism in the Saudi culture middle class which is very different from the working class in the West or other developing Eastern cultures for all that I know. The Saudi middle class as pointed out in this very informative book, does not know how to work, has not worked and does not want to work either. Who would, if given the opportunity not to work? After all, work is not exactly like exercise, not indulging in work is not going to kill us, is it? And I would argue that the Saudis have learnt ways to make money, from the cheap oil, their visa referral system, and limitless tourism all year long culminating in the yearly religious mega event of Hajj, pushing their Wahabi ideology on the unsuspecting new Muslims. And for Saudis everyone not a Saudi is a convert, is he not? 

Wahabism is a sort of reformation within Islam challenging the all previous ideologies with a pretty simple and powerful message. This message is now being propagated across all of the Muslim and Western countries fueled by oil revenues. The propaganda is spartan, revolutionary, and extremely powerful coming from the Home of Allah itself. It resonates very very well not only outside Saudi Arabia but also inside the Kingdom as Saudis desperately want to justify their own lavish lifestyles as compared to their elder destitute generations.  

The other aspect of strength for any Saudi is their culture which is synonymous with Islam. Saudis impose their ‘Islamic’ culture on all other converted cultures. The biggest ace in their culture is the language of the holy Quran. To date, there has never been another version of the Quran in any different language. There have been translations but the Arabic Quran commands an absolute infallible role with no other translations getting close to challenge its ascendancy. 

John also highlights the tribal culture of Saudi Arabia as still pretty strong. Dealing with tribes is the age old tradition in a royalist system. Also tribal system resonates well with the classical era of Islam in Arabia. The Prophet dealt with various tribes to spread the Islamic message, sort of similar to the Saud style of governance. Al-Qaida also developed its defiant message for the tribes of Saudi Arabia and Yemen and was later able to franchise the same to tribal cultures in Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Again one way to tackle Islamic militancy would be to take assimilate tribes into cities so that any government can comfortably deal with them. On the flip side, Al-Qaida has little hope of spreading its vile message in cities where tribal influence is non existent. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the neatly arranged chapters on Saudi youth, Shias, and especially the one one expatriate plight. This is probably the first book that mentions the third class treatment letter out to workers from Phillipines, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Why Al-Qaida saw no threat coming from the thousands of low paid workers cleaning streets in 40 degree calcius wearing orange jump suits just like in Guantanamo. Instead it choose to target the Western expats living in walled compounds blaming them for damaging the morals of a pure Saudi Islamic society. I find it ironic that similar orange jumpsuits were used by the Americans in Guantanmo holding possible Al-Qaida members. Ironic isn't it? 

This book was riveting right form the beginning to the end. John in the end seemed mildly optimistic about any changes to the Wahabi control on Saudi Arabia. I tend to agree with him that change must come from the inside rather than any outside influence, somewhat similar to the Arab Spring.

The Case for India by Annie Wood Besant

Fascinating case put for self-rule in India put after the First Great World War in 1917 which ironically still seems pretty relevant in both India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc when you consider opportunities accorded to the ordinary masses in these now very 'independent' countries. Why have these countries lagged behind when other ex-colonies like Canada and Australia have done wonders for their people, when all were part of the Anglophile policy of British is a very interesting question indeed. Is it down to cultural differences or racial policies or the socio economic conditions were so different for the indigenous native people that little could be achieved, I am not sure. For me I think race and socio economic conditions have to be a major reason when you consider the sorry plight of natives in America, Australia and New Zealand.

Pakistan: Eye of the Storm, 3rd edition by Owen Bennett Jones

This is a remarkable book on Pakistan, context setting with amazing insights. I especially enjoyed the references to individual stories of feudals, generals and politicians to strength the author's deductions. Unfortunately the future looks bleaker for the moment with the rise in terrorism and anarchy. I found the last chapter on Musharraf and his non-existent policy on education something the author to have needlessly injected as education is the main reason for the sad state of affairs in Pakistan. This book should be on the reading list of anyone interested in Pakistan.

Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East by Deborah Amos

'We owe them a home, because we took theirs away.' The last chapter of the book has at a story in which US Army Iraq war veteran decided to adopt an Iraqi family as his own. The rest of the book makes pretty worrying reading when you consider all the coerced and forced deportations of Christians and Sunnis Muslims from Iraq and the resulting chaos created in neighbouring countless like Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. The most interesting revelation for me is the power struggle between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran using proxy armies. As a Pakistani I have been witness to this proxy warfare in Afghanistan and Pakistan these past 20 years or so. SA will continue to export their radical ideology and personal to other playing fields otherwise this ideology will burn itself. I suspect it will come to hound it one day but unfortunately for the moment millions of innocent will have to pay a hefty price. The book is a great read for anyone interested in understanding the current state of Middle East.

Seoul Survivors by Naomi Foyle

he story drags on for ever and ever around the desperate characters. There was far too much detail and loose ends which didn't seem to make a lot of relevance. I got a glimpse of South Korean culture which is typical for any up and coming third world economy. You got greedy vicious foreigners partnering even more self serving and greedier locals to guess what, make bundles of money. I wanted a get an inside onto the South Korean culture but got very little. So if you are going to pick this book for the same reason, please give it a miss.

A Teardrop on the Cheek of Time: The Story of the Taj Mahal by Diana Preston, Michael Preston

Definitive book on the history of the Taj Mahal, with a fair bit of context of the great Mughuls of Indian subcontinent. This is the my second reading of this wondrous tale of romance and intrigues of the mighty Mughuls starting from Babur till the last great Aurengzeb. The authors have done a great service by evaluating all angles of various historical questions like the relationship between Shah Jehan and Jehanara, the architect of Taj Mahal, about the possibility of a black Taj and many more. All in all the book makes a great reading for every Indian and Pakistani interested in the greatest building of the subcontinent.

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Absolutely loved all stories which are somewhat loosely connected. My favourite is Nawabdin electrician's though, his resoluteness and spartan lifestyle signifies the great Pakistani Punjabi stereotype. I also immensely enjoyed the interaction of the rich and affluent class with the ordinary as it is a game still played on a daily basis. Daniyal has indeed got a keen sense to empathise with the plight of the poor and the destitute. Can't wait for his next book.

From MTV to Mecca: How Islam Inspired My Life by Kristiane Backer

Very ordinary book of a very impressionable Western women experimenting with Islam. I found her reasons to convert not very convincing at all, claiming to have been inspired by Imran Khan the Pakistani cricketer politician. For me it was a simple case of exploitation using Islam to justify large scale misogyny in Pakistan. How the author failed to notice the poor plight of women on her numerous trips to Pakistan is beyond me. What amazed me more was the author decided to convert to Islam after being dumped by the righteous Imran Khan claiming that one of his spiritual advisors had warned him against marrying the author! For me the author's career in the Music industry was no different from her ultimate adventure with Islam, both selling and broadcasting their unique agenda on the hapless and the gullible. Another feature common among the two is that they are extremely satisfying pastimes, a great form of escape from the reality of life. The book is a waste of time for anyone looking for inspiration or conversion. All religions are the same, if you have a desire to convert, kindly refer to whatever religion you are born into. Proper understanding will surly provide the right antidote to depression of life.

On the other hand, when young MTV seems like a great line of work, almost as great as Islamic ambassadorship in your middle age, doesn't it?

Back to Pakistan: A Fifty-Year Journey by Leslie Noyes Mass

Fascinating story, about a young idealistic American girl following her dream of helping humanity by deciding to join the Peace Corps and come to Pakistan in the early 1960's and help set up a community centre for village women in Punjab. The touches on some of the challenges Leslie faced in a pretty archaic Pakistan of 1960. The story than jet-sets to 2009 when the author rather courageously comes back to Pakistan in an attempt to juxtapose between the then and the now. This time around she is working with a different type of home grown educational evangelists who seem to be carrying on a pretty remarkable organisation all on their own without any need of Western aid. The American women manages to touch hearts and minds in a most novel way when she criss crosses across Pakistan from Karachi into Lahore, Northern Mountains and than finally into Islamabad and Rawalpindi. As a Pakistani I am just happy she was able to make it back in one piece as unfortunately the security situation is really bad at the moment. I don't think many Westerners can repeat her feat in the present very prevailing dangerous situation.

Drone Warfare: Killing By Remote Control by Medea Benjamin

Its hard to go home to one's family after wiping out someone else's.

If you do something long enough, the world will learn to accept it eventually.

The book is short very factual account of the drone industry, lobbying and narrative in the USA. Narrative-for is pretty powerful, as drones provide an easy and effective manner of engaging with an allusive enemy hidden among the ordinary, the argument-against is very compelling as well, with all the civilian deaths and ill-will generated against the USA every time another 'successful' drone strikes somewhere in the badlands of Pakistan or Somalia. Even if most of the collateral goes unreported the resulting anger directed against the West is felt every time another foreigner is killed in reprisal attack. 

But there is one aspect which also needs to be considered in the drone narrative, that is the delight felt by the locals each time a real terrorist is killed by a drone strike. Because lets not forget that these terrorists are pretty nasty bullys who have been disrupting the locals working class people in areas with almost non-existing government control, leaving drone strikes as the only real outcome for any known bully. The recent killing of Taliban number 2 leader in Pakistan is a great case in point. Apparently the number one and number two leaders had broken apart prompting the number one to find a convenient mole to convey the location of number 2 leader to the drone operators, who obliged him by not only getting rid of his sworn enemy but also made him a pretty rich with the reward money. 

Ways of the world are indeed strange.......

Born Liars Why We Can't Live without Deceit by Ian Leslie

This book resolved a personal dilemma for me, someone raised in a traditional predominately Muslim culture where lying and deceit are very black and dark attributes of any human being's core nature which this particular book seems to agree with. It is truth which is an acquired trait which we all struggle to achieve during our existence on earth. As an eastern expat striving in the West, I have always struggled with the notion of whether to trust first or distrust upon initial contact, as I tend to be the trusting type personally which means that I must have been influenced by my religious background somehow somewhere. And as truth seems to be abundant in a generally trusting culture I am well disposed to my present conditions. 

I enjoyed this book immensely at as it very clearly outlines the various philosophies influencing truth and lies over centuries of human existence. For instance the difference between lying in the West as opposed to the East was very nicely explained.

And lastly the book is very nicely presented for the lay-person instead of being directed to the academics, in my opinion.

The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley

The book certainly presents the prevailing culture of 1920's through to just after the defeat of Japan in the Second World War. Japan's superior culture compared to China and a lesser Mongolia, through the lens of its treatment of women. It seems generally women had the raw deal in all of these cultures as mere sex objects just above slaves. The story becomes even more interesting with the Eastern Star infiltrates into Chinese Royal family.

The Origins of the Koran: Classic Essays on Islam's Holy Book by Ibn Warraq

The book sets out to challenge popular perceptions prevailing in Islam by raising questions like...
Did the Prophet remember the whole story as narrated to him, as there is evidence of the infamous Satanic Verses event when the Prophet seems to have recanted some verses. 
Could the memories of Prophet's companions be as infallible as reported by the ulema in light of evidence that Quran was also written down by Hafsa and others?
Another assumption that the Prophet's companions heard and understood him perfectly is challenged by popular narrative that many Koranic version were destroyed by Uthman when editing the current version. There is also recent evidence of the difference found in Kornic verses caligraphed in the Dome of the Rock and those found in earlier manuscripts recently destroyed in Sana'a Yemen.

The book than presents a series of very very academic articles to try and establish the counter narrative. There is a lot of repetition but the whole objective is pretty lost, because for me why would any faithful Muslim pick up this book to read in the first place? The only real advantage is that the sceptical Muslims and non-Muslims will be able to draw some level of comfort from this book. So if you harbour a healthy dose of scepticism towards religion or Islam, please feel free to read on.

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster, Oliver Stallybrass (Editor ), Pankaj Mishra (Introduction )

As an 'orientalist' Pakistani, I found this story very touching and relevant even after a hundred years or so. Can the East and West be friends? They are two huge tribes well different from each other with their own distinctive features,attributes, tastes and sounds from which time to time some renegade members try and associate with each other across the two tribes raising sparks every time. I also agree with Forster in his assessment that it is the women who are indeed capable of building long lasting bridges across the two very disparate tribes. The best way to really integrate is to marry into the other tribe, as it might help form last friendships. Also friendship or the desire for true friendship is a most noble aspiration, whether its within or across ones own tribe which Forster has very gallantly presented in this classic story. I wish I could give 10 stars out of 5. Forster has exhibited great skill in capturing the narrative of the AngloIndians as well as the Indians of that era, in a manner which no one else has done so far.

Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out by Ibn Warraq

Some of the reasons why apostates were expelled, stoned, lynched and venerated by their fellow Muslims.....
Al-Rawandi
All religious dogma is contrary to reason in which case it must be rejected.
Koran is inferior piece of work from the literary point of view, since it is neither clear or comprehensible nor of any practical value, therefore certainly not a revealed book.
Al-Razi
One could live in an orderly society without being terrorized by religious law or coerced by the prophets.
Through philosophy and human reason not through religion can human life be improved.
Progress can only be made through scientific and philosophical progress, not following religion.

Sufi orders
Bektashi order rejected all external ceremonies of Islam and other religions. This order is famous for theor mala-matiya dervaishes who go around naked and inviting contempt upon themselves from the genral populace. 
There is no heaven or hell. 
Religion is love and love alone.
A little doubt is better than total credulity. (Al Maarri)
The majority of Muslims are are trapped in denial. They are unable or unwilling to admit that the Koran is a hoax. They desperately try to explain the unexplainable, to find miracles in it, and are not ashamed to bend all the rules of logic to prove that the Koran is right. Each time they are exposed to a shocking statement in the Koran or a shameful act performed by Muhammad, they retreat in denial. This is what I was doing. Denial is a safe place. It is the comfort zone. In denial you are not going to be hurt, everything is okay; everything is fine. (Ali Sina)

The book is filled with stories of modern apostates of Islam who generally cite the treatment of women, vagueness of Koran, dubiousness of Hadith to justify their conversion. It does get pretty monotonous and tedious with the repetition of the same narrative over and over again. The book resembles a collection of blogs against Islam. I think it is an important addition to the sceptic debate within Islam. Trouble is if Muslims are in denial than the apostates are in blame. Both positions seem pretty extreme to me.......

Why I Am Not a Muslim by Ibn Warraq, R. Joseph Hoffmann

I guess the the main reason for reading works by Ibn Warraq is best summarized by the following statement by E.Renan.

Muslims are the first victims of Islam. Many times I have observed in my travels in the orient, that fanaticism comes from a small number of dangerous men who maintain the others in the practice of religion by terror. To liberate the Muslim from his religion is the best service that one can render.

I couldn't agree more with the astutue observation made above. Time and again I have seen the overwhelming effect of Islam on its subjects. Religion for me should be a matter of personal choice, not imposed by the society or culture in any way. Unfortunately it is the exact opposite in most Islamic majority cultures I have lived in. Ibn Warraq's work is a welcome distraction of the alternate narrative. The truth for me should lie somewhere down the middle of the two, Islamic propaganda and anti-Islamic counter propoganda. Ibn Warraq is presents the vanguard of the anti-Islamic propoganda initiative. The main issue with Islam is the all prevailing back-to-the-basics narrative, employed freely by most Islamic apologists repeatedly in arguments with reformists or rationalists within Islam. This is mainly because that Islam has not undergone Reformation like Christianity yet, which leaves the reformists a huge obstacle to overcome. The reformist, rationalist or freethinkers movement within Islam is still very small in numbers, and I fear the only way it will gain strength is in reaction to the rise of fundamentalism within Islam, which may force the silent majority to take sides. 

Ibn Warraq has openly challenged notions widely accepted like 'Islam was born in the clear light of history', its greater tolerence, its greater rationality, its snese of brotherhood, its greater spirituality, and the myth that Muhammad was a wise and tolerant lawgiver, providing detailed references quoted from within the Islamic history.

The author suggests that the earlier perception of Islam and Muslims was portrayed as noble by a large section of Westeren intellectuals with strong affliations to relegion themselves. 

For me, people like Ibn Warraq prove that there is at the least a hint of skepticim alive and well within Islam, which is very encourouging, for this proves that critical thinking is not completley dead in Islam yet.

The book is very difficult to read as much of the evidence is repeating, it lacks proper a editorial job thus becomes pretty similar to the authors take on a 'confusing Koran'. It is nowhere close to Betrand Russell's great work of 'Why I am not a Christian' though.

The Korean War (Pan Grand Strategy) by Max Hastings

In Max Hastings, I have discovered a war-history master. It is the first history book on war genre which has managed to keep me engaged in the Korean conflict soon after the end of the Second Great War. I loved his style of juxtaposing very personal individual accounts, of ordinary soldiers with might generals. I was looking for a book which could explain South Korea's meteoritic economic rise and looks like I have made a great choice with this one. I found Hastings account to be very subjective with quite a few references to the Communists side as well. He has definitely become my number one choice in war correspondents/historian.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Every diaspora needs one Jhumpa Lahiri of their own or accept me into the Bengali race. Jhumpa is undoubtedly the best writer to have very vividly captured the lives of immigrants over first and second generations in the USA. Her prose is subtle and very absorbing, it is a great skill to keep the reader entertained with no real drama in most of her stories. A must read for all immigrants of the Indian origin.

The British in Bengal 1756-1773: A Society in Transition Seen Through the Biography of a Rebel - William Bolts by W.G.J. Kuiters

The language was archaic and thus found it difficult to follow. Also a lot of relevant context is required to follow the book which reads like a collection of stories taken out from someone's diary.

The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia by Gregory D. Johnsen

Is it as easy as a 19 minute jihadist video made in Yemen,to influence American policy (like shutting Guantanamo bay) thousands of miles away in the White House? Sounds like beggars belief to me. The more likely scenario surly is that someone who never wanted the closure of Guantanamo bay orchestrated the making of the video to force the hand of Obama or am I just another nutty Muslim prone to conspiracy theories? If the Pakistani government stands accused of not managing its own Intelligence Service than surly the mighty US government is also vulnerable to a similar ailment with own CIA?

That was my initial impression when reading the prologue to this book before undergoing a detailed set of events which pretty clearly explains the nature of Al-Qaida in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Osama was Yemeni and wanted desperately to make Yemen Al Qaida's base of operations. The chronology of events is presented like the format of a flowing story which makes it very readable. I must confess I was convinced by the end of the book that Al-Qaida is a real threat and not a mere passing fascination as portrayed by media in Pakistan and most of Middle East. Therefore the almost full marks accorded to this brilliant longish article of a book, which resembles a blog in form. The only bit missing was the abrupt end to the book without the author's concluding remarks. 

Then there was the casual mention of ex-volunteers turned intelligence officials in the book. I was never able to fully understand the utter dislike for 'peaceful' initiatives like polio drop vaccination and the deployment of Peace Corps among majority Pakistanis. This book provides at least one example of a peace corp volunteer turn into diplomat, into intelligence officer before evolving into head of clandestine operation in Yemen. Do I need any more evidence still?

The story of Yemen is a familiar one, a powerful monarch partners a fundamentalist Islamic militant sect to crush its enemy before turning over its guns on its former partner. It happened in Saudi Arabia, Lawrence of Arabia orchestrated another version for the Allies, Pakistani/Arabs did a version in Afghanistan and now a repeat version in Yemen. How many more iterations will we witness before we learn from the past?

Abu Huraira by Ayatullah Sharaf ul Din Mousavi by Ayatullah Sharaf ul Din Mousavi

The books author is a Shia scholar who has done a pretty commendable job of explaining personality of Abu Huraira which maybe the first Maulvi of Islam. He comes into Islam during the last years of Mohammad's life as an improvised and destitute, always struggling for his next meal. He was one of the many 'people of the Suf' who were living on the largesse of the nascent Muslim community. He would routinely initiate a discussion on some Quranic Verse in order to try and win his next meal from mostly the Prophet of any other able companions. He was made the governor of Bahrain, only to be later removed by Umar on embezzlement charges. Later he was able to get closer to Hazrat Usman, and under an ageing Khalifa attains almost messiah like perception as he seemed to have sided with the killers of Hazrat Usman. After Usman Abu Huraira fell out of favour of Hazrat Ali but was rewarded for any disfavour during Muawiyyas rule, which sort of make sense as Muawiyya must be looking for religious justification for his rule after taking over from the extremely popular Ali. The ever imaginative Abu Huraira has come up with a number of Hadees during Muawiyyas period. Like, Allah has told me that there are only three amin (true to every word) individuals besides myself, Abu Huraira, Gibrail, and Abu Muawiyya.
There are also quite a few Hadees in strong favour of Hazrat Abu Bakr as the first rightful Khalifa. Any Shia will naturally feel slighted when these Hadith are taken at face value by Sunnis to justify rule by Hazrats Abu Bakr, Umar and Usman. Trouble is that very few Sunni scholars will actually present their side of the argument, preferring to hide behind the flimsy statement that all companions of the Prophet are equally venerable. Unfortunately this very weak statement does not hold in an age where knowledge is at the tip of the fingers. It's high time that a comprehensive logical study of the Hadith in order to ween out all the controversial. Instead of conducting such a study the Islamic scholars seem to following Abu Huraira's example of Hadith propaganda by churning out countless conspiracy theories in order to confuse the ordinary Muslims into disengaging with real event. Case in point is Malala's alleged shooting by the Taliban allegedly. Within weeks of the incident, the social media, TV, and print media were heaving with a number of almost credible stories about her shooting forcing sympathisers like me to disengage somewhat. Unfortunately, the Abu Hurairas if the world will always win as the power of propaganda is extremely powerful.

Most of the book is debunking Hadith by Abu Huraira one by one, I shall leave the reader to make up his own conclusions by going through the rather imaginative literary corpus on offer here. 

Are we ever going to grow out of this chaos?

The Pity of Partition: Mantos Life, Times, and Work Across the India-Pakistan Divide by Ayesha Jalal

It has been a pretty interesting topic for me personally, one which I have wrestled to grasp passionately for some years now. Ayesha's questioning of the reasons for Partition are sound, but she still fails to mention the mention the main reason which most of us Pakistani Punjabis subtly admit, ergo power. Has any minority race managed to hold on to power in any democratic culture of the world? Don't know how Ayesha has failed to mention such a vital reason in her otherwise pretty interesting book. Majority means power and power is the chief reason why Pakistan was backed by Punjabis and Bengalis in 1947 and why Bengal got rid of Punjabis in 1971. Ayesha is quite wrong at citing religion as the main reason for the Partition in 1947, for if it was than 1971 would not have happened. But I do agree with the result of Partition when I compare between Muslims in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. It is plainly obvious that Partitioned Pakistani & Bengali Muslims seem to thriving as opposed to the pretty sorry state of Indian Muslims at present. Of course if Partition had not taken place than Muslims could have commanded a different social cadre is pure speculation and a much favoured argument proffered by Muslims of India. 
Ayesha's interpretation of Jinnah's choices for the pursuit of Muslim power in a federally homogenous united India should be taught as curriculum in Pakistan and India as it was Nehru who forced Jinnah to accept the plan C, something he had already rejected publicly twice before. 
But Partition is digressing all the limelight away from the great Munto who in my opinion is a picture of archetypical Pakistani male. What a writer, bold, creative, revolutionary, vibrant, and a dervish all built in one. If only I had a little bit of Munto......

God's Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam by Martin Hinds

Sunni ulama claim that the caliph all title did change its meaning in the twelve years between 632 and 644. The apparent reasoning being that earlier caliphs were looking to legitimise their rule by masking the importance of Muhammad. This trend was changed in the 70's when later Caliph's decided to use Muhammad's memory to get basically the same results.
Another reason for marginalising Muhammad's legacy by the Umayyads was because it affected their dynastic legacy as they claimed to decedents from Uthman and saw Ali as the pretender.
Fascinating little study of the importance of Caliphs within Islam which is taken up by the fringe Islamist movements like the Taliban, therefore very relevant today.

The importance of leadership in the heyday of Islam is clearly visible in this study. It's also plain to see why the institution of the Caliph lost its charm, mainly after the crushing defeat at the hands of Mongol hoards. Unfortunately the Islamic world has never been able to come back after the harrowing defeat at the hands of the pagan Mongols. 

So was sunnah really only based on the life of Prophet or did it also contain a healthy dose of influence from various caliphs as well? The book argues for the later which again makes a lot of sense. For if Islam really blossomed during the time of Caliphs than their almost complete control on religious law seems mandatory. Why would an almighty caliph compromise with a lowly ranking Alim?

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

Some are born mad, some achieve madness, and others have madness thrust upon them.
The book is set in the days just after partition, based on families going through birth pangs after the Partition of India into India and Pakistan. The Partition and subsequent religious riots in India have made a pretty significant affect on the psych of India which is of a much more lasting nature than Pakistan who can only look back or read about Partition on their end. Indians on the other hand live in constant fear of inciting yet another religious riot in their cities while Pakistanis can move on after burying the riots behind them. Religious riots are far more dangerous than racial riots.

It struck me almost halfway through the novel, the irony of the much lauded Zamindari bill which Seth has so vividly portrayed in this classic novel. What is the difference between the East India Company and the Indian Nationalists if the All India Congress party? The Zamindari bill was same policy polished and re-badged all over again. How can we have the audacity to accuse the British of exploiting India when Indians seem to have done exactly the same when their turn was up?

As I read more and more of this wondrously engaging story, I could relate to straight parables to the Partition drama, there is a crime of drunken passion purported by one good friend, which for me resembled the senseless riots after the Partition. There are other examples which are steeped in Partition which for me makes the story very relevant for a proper depiction of that era. 


All in all the book was a very engaging read. The only drawback was the size of the paperback which makes it a very difficult job to lunge around, but I am not taking any stars from because of it....

The Men Who Ruled India by Philip Mason

It's a subject which has intrigued me for some years now, how we're a handful of foreigners able to rule over millions of Indians for so long? Are the Indians inherently pliant and servile by nature? Or did the Indian see some clear benefit from the new master race? 

The author starts from 1600, when the East India Company applied for their first warehouse in Surat from a drunken and debauched Emperor Jehangir. One of the first differences to be noted by English ambassador Hawkins was the nature of law in India, Kings word was law and his noble men were noble because they were his favourites, and also that Muslim law ran only when the Emperor wished. But surprisingly, the English started working within the Moghul law like any other local strongmen of the day, the only difference being that their allegiance lay with their parent company based in London.

The book doesn't disappoint for long as a base feature definition of an Englishman in India late 1780's...
Proud and tenacious
He feels himself a conqueror amongst vanquished people and looks down upon them.
Indolent.
A cool apathy a listless inattention and improvident carelessness accompanies most of his actions.
Secure of today, he thinks not of tomorrow.
Ambitious of splendour, he expends freely.
Generosity is a feature of character.
Minutely just and inflexibly upright even when prone to calumny & distractions.
Matchless Integrity.

Another interesting historical cross-roads was the fact that in the early 1800's, a hot debate between colonisation and debate was waging in India. The debate was 

whether large number of Englishmen invited to settle in the waste lands of India against the continuance of old education policy to educate the native Indians. 

Fascinating that opting the later course changed the course of India instead of direct colonisation which could have resulted in another Africa or South America like India. It also demonstrates that colluding with the master race can have some benefits for the colonised races in the long run as opposed to fighting them incessantly. 

I also found it fascinating that around the same time education to the ordinary was about the same standard in England as in India, where the government policy was to teach the people to read and write only, that implies that modern education foundation in India and England was kept around the same time. This clearly explains the huge number of Anglophiles in India, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka and Bangladesh.

This book has to be taken with a pinch of salt though as it harps on about how good the British overlords were for India and Indians only, with little mention of the revenues made from the tax collected directly because of the new developments. For example mentions of great changes and developments are made with great fanfare but any direct reference to benefits to the Company profits is masked slightly. The author squeamish attempt to portray Sepoy Mutiny as merely an army rebellion is a case in point. If the Mutiny was organised by Brahmins than why was the Moghul king in Delhi dishonoured and exiled to Rangoon? Why were all Muslims exiled from their homes for upto a period of three years after the fall of Delhi if the Mutiny was led by high caste Hindus? If the Mutiny was caused by the machinations of the upper cast Hindus than why did these Hindus decide to form a partnership with an almost defunct Mughuls who should have been equally hated by them? As the author slithers and justifies the 'local' nature of Mutiny I could almost feel the brevity of the chapter as he obviously wanted to get it over and done with as quickly as possible.

Mutiny brought the worst atrocities out of gallant English, in one incident alone a certain civil servant Cooper bound and killed around 286 mutinous soldiers in Amritsar. These ex-soldiers all hailing from central India were having first being subdued by local Sikh villagers were killed in batches of ten by an unapologetic Cooper citing that this wanton extermination was necessary as it probably saved the lives of thousands in the long run. Similar argument was later made by Dyer seventy years later.

Met the Titans of Punjab as well, Henry Lawrence, Herbert Edwards (Bannu) , John Nicholson (Rawalpindi), James Abbot (Hazara) , Lumsden (Yusufzai) , Reynel Taylor, George Lawrence, Vans Agnew and Arthur Cocks. Whatever their reason might have been, these select coterie of gentlemen with almost superhuman dedication and infinite amount of valour, were able to make lasting changes in the most arable province of India, affects of which can still be felt in the Punjab of now. The most significant park in Lahore is still Lawrence gardens and a whole city is named after Abbot called Abbotabad, now infamous after the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Bet Abbot sahib never imagined such fate.

By the end the author had made a pretty significant defence of the British takeover of India, and I stand convinced that all of the on e colonised benefited from the 350 year relationship between the two. Yes Britain benefited from the arrangement in trade and commerce but so did the Indians, for the education policy and for breaking g the archaic traditions like sati, daughter killings and human sacrifice. But most of all they learned about nationalism, which helped them attain independence. There is an understanding of sorts between the masters and slaves, that both needs are to me met. The relationship breaks if either one of them is not keeping their part of the bargain.

Also the way India and Pakistan got independence says a lot about different roads taken after independence as well. Hindus/Indians managed to construe a bigger country using democracy than their greatest leader Ashoka while Muslims/Pakistanis got a country by lobbying the British into giving them one. Funny how both countries choose to keep faith in democracy and lobbying even after so many years of independence!