Also Pakistan – III
This is the third in our ‘Also Pakistan’ series, following Also Pakistan – I and Also Pakistan – II.
There is very little memory left of a Pakistan that today almost seems like an alien planet compared to what it has been ever since the mid-1980s.
Here, I shall once again share with you some interesting photographs that I have managed to gather in the last couple of years of that alien country.
A place that was also called Pakistan.
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Astronaut of NASA’s Apollo 17 and his wife wave to fans on their arrival at Lahore Airport (1973).
A scene from Hollywood blockbuster ‘Bhowani Junction’ being shot outside a Lahore police station.
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A couple swings into action at a New Year’s party at a nightclub at Karachi’s Hotel Metropole (1957).
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A newspaper clipping (from Pakistan’s daily, ‘Morning News’) with a report on how Pakistani pop fans gate-crashed their way into a bar at the Karachi Airport where the famous pop band The Beatles were having a drink. They had arrived in Karachi (1963) to get a connecting flight to Hong Kong. Between the 1960s and late 1970s the Karachi Airport was one of the busiest in the region. (Picture Courtesy: Sami Shah).
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Western tourists sunbathing on a Karachi beach (early 1960s).
A group of American tourists on a ‘crabbing trip’ in Karachi. ‘Crabbing’ (catching crabs) was a thriving tourist activity in Karachi where tourists would rent boats from the coastal Kimari area of the city and ‘go crabbing.’ The boats mostly belonged to men belonging to the ‘Afro-Pakistani’ community in Karachi and some of them had small barbecue kitchens and bars fitted in the boats. The boats are still there, but not the tourists.
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The Queen of England (Elizabeth II) meeting a welcoming committee during her visit to Karachi in 1961. She also toured many parts of the city with the then ruler of Pakistan, Field Martial Ayub Khan in an open-top limousine.
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Students sympathetic to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the left-wing National Students Federation (NSF) clash with the police and pro-government students in Karachi (1969). The student and labour movement between 1967 and 1968 had already toppled the dictatorship of Ayub Khan.
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Plainclothes cops nab a radical Pushtun nationalist student who was accused of firing shots from a concealed gun at Ayub Khan at a pro-Ayub rally in Peshawar (late 1968).
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A press ad in a Pakistani magazine announcing the launch of Canadian Club Whiskey in Pakistan (early 1960s). The whiskey was first made available at Karachi’s horse racing and polo club (Race Course) and then introduced in the city’s many bars.
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A West Pakistani clashes with an East Pakistani Bengali in Dhaka (1970).
Militant Bengali nationalists (Mukti Bhaini) aim at West Pakistan troops during the 1971 Civil War between West Pakistani military and East Pakistan nationalists. The Bengali nationalists picked up arms against the Pakistan military after accusing it of committing large scale massacres against Bengalis. Backed by India, the rebels defeated the West Pakistan military and East Pakistan became Bangladesh.
East Pakistani women march with guns on the streets of Dhaka in a show of defiance against the West Pakistan military establishment (1971).
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An early poster advertising the Pakistani beer brand Murree’s first launch of ‘light beers.’
Pakistani men take an adventurous ride on an Afghan taxi (1972). Every day thousands of Pakistanis crossed into Afghanistan for trade on such taxis. Many would also visit Kabul to watch latest Indian films in Kabul cinemas then return to Pakistan in the evening.
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A group of hippies (British, French and American) wait for a bus in Lahore (1972). Pakistan was an important destination on what was called the ‘Hippie Trail.’
The trail was used by thousands of young European and American backpackers between the late 1960s and 1979. It was an overland route that began in Turkey, ran through Iran, curved into Afghanistan and Pakistan and then from India ended in Nepal.
A huge tourist industry sprang up in these countries to accommodate the backpackers. In Pakistan, the travelers entered Peshawar (from Jalalabad in Afghanistan). From Peshawar they went to Lahore. Some took a bus into India while others visited Karachi and Swat before returning to Lahore and crossed into India.
The trail closed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran; the beginning of civil war in Afghanistan; and due to the reactionary nature of the Ziaul Haq dictatorship that came to power in Pakistan in 1977.
A 1973 tourism brochure printed by the Pakistan Ministry of Tourism. The brochure had details of hotels, restaurants, bars and tourist spots that had sprung up on the Hippie Trail.
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A tourism bus operated by Pakistan’s Ministry of Tourism taking western tourists on a sight-seeing ride in Karachi (1974). Such buses were decorated keeping in mind the time’s ‘hippie aesthetics.’
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A 1968 shot of a famous Karachi cinema, Taj Mahal. It was one of the many that operated during the heydays of Pakistan’s film industry.
Between 1965 and 1977, the industry produced dozens of films every month. The trend hit a peak in 1975 when a total number of 114 Urdu films were released that year.
The industry began to wither away from the late 1970s due to the arrival of a reactionary dictatorship and then the growing popularity of the VCR.
Today the Pakistan film industry that was one of the most lucrative show-biz ventures in the country in the 1960s and 1970s is as good as dead.
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A classic early 1970s hand-painted billboard of actor and martial arts expert, Bruce Lee.
This particular billboard was painted in Lahore and was used to advertise Lee’s 1973 blockbuster ‘Enter the Dragon.’ Just like in the West, Lee had become an icon and hugely popular with action film enthusiasts in Pakistan as well. His films did roaring business in cinemas and popularised the martial arts in Pakistan. Lee died a sudden death in 1973.
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A rare photo showing the Pakistan hockey team on its way to win the 1971 Hockey World Cup held in Barcelona, Spain. It defeated the host country in the finals.
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Wife of the Shah of Iran arrives at the Quetta Airport (1973). She was greeted by the then Balochistan governor, Mir Ghaos Baksh Beznjo, who belonged to the left-wing National Awami Party (NAP) that headed the government in Balochistan (after the 1970 election).
Ironically, Bezenjo and the NAP government in the province were dismissed by the Z A. Bhutto regime when the Shah of Iran warned Pakistan that NAP was instigating Baloch nationalist rebellion in the Iranian part of Balochistan.
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A 21-year-old Benazir Bhutto sitting on the porch of her father Z A. Bhutto’s house in Karachi (1974). Benazir would go on to lead her father’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after he was hanged to death by General Ziaul Haq in April 1979.
In 1990s she was twice elected as Pakistan’s prime minister before tragically losing her life at the hands of Islamic militants in December 2007.
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Cover of the May 1972 issue of The Herald. Herald (a monthly published by the Dawn Group) was initially a magazine focusing on the changing fashion, political and social trends of the urban Pakistani youth. However, from 1980 onwards it became more political in its content.
A 1973 issue of The Herald with a cover story on the then vibrant social scene of Karachi.
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Famous Pakistani model, Rakhshanda Khattak. She was one of Pakistan’s leading fashion models in the 1970s before quitting and leaving the country in 1979. She died in the United States in 2011.
(The photo is from 1972). -Photo courtesy: Express Tribune
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A 1973 album cover (that was then turned into a poster) of Pakistani film playback singer and pop icon, Runna Laila. This poster became popular with college students and could be found gracing the walls of their hostel rooms right along-side posters of Che Gurevara, Mao tse Tung, etc.
Laila was a Bengali hailing from East Pakistan. Her songs attracted the attention and adoration of the Pakistani youth in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Though she did not leave West Pakistan after East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971, she finally decided to go and become a Bangladeshi citizen in 1974.
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A 1972 Runa Laila song (performed on Pakistan’s state-owned TV channel, PTV) that added the ‘hippie chic’ in modern Pakistani music.
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Soundtrack album (LP) of 1975 Pakistani film, ‘Shabana.’ The film starred one of the leading Pakistani film actresses and sex symbol of the 1970s, Barbra Sharif.
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A 1975 poster showing some of Pakistan’s most popular Sindhi, Baloch, Pushtun and Punjabi folk performers. The poster was printed in the United States where these performers went to perform at the ‘American Folklife Concert’ in Washington DC.
Indigenous Pakistani folk culture and music were aggressively patronised by the populist government of Z A. Bhutto. Some analysts suggest that this was at least one part of his regime’s strategy to co-opt nationalist sentiments simmering among Sindhi, Baloch and Pushtun nationalists.
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A European couple outside a cheap hotel in Peshawar in 1975. A number of such hotels had sprung up in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi to accommodate the rising tide of Western backpackers that began arriving from the late 1960s onwards. Can’t explain the gun holster, though. Most probably it’s empty.
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Famous 1970s Iranian pop singer and icon Madam Googoosh on the cover of a Persian magazine, ‘Beta.’ Googoosh toured Pakistan in 1975 and became a huge hit with concert and TV audiences.
She planned to return for another series of concerts in Pakistan but after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran she was banned by the new Iranian regime.
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Some young members of the Pakistan cricket team living it up at a nightclub (1976). Seen (from left): The hard-hitting and flamboyant Wasim Raja (bearded); opener Mudassar Nazar; fast bowler Sikandar Bakht and batsman, Javed Miandad.
Notice the tone used in the caption of the photograph that appeared in a Pakistani English daily. It is upbeat and matter-of-fact, unlike the condemning tone that (mostly Urdu press) began to use for ‘partying cricketers’ after early 1980s.
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A more contemporary rendition of a Sindhi nationalist poster. The poster was first designed and printed in 1973 soon after the formation of radical Sindhi nationalist party, the Jeeay Sindh. The poster tries to encapsulate (and propagate) the secular, pluralistic and tolerant nature of Sindhi people and their links with Sufi Islam.
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Wife of Pakistan’s first popularly elected Prime Minister, Nusrat Bhutto, representing Pakistan at a 1975 conference in Mexico. Some observers believe she was far more progressive than her ‘socialist’ husband (Z A. Bhutto).
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A 1974 photo of famous Pakistani cricketer, Imran Khan, in typically flashy and expressive 1970s attire. Equally famous of being an ‘over indulgent playboy,’ Khan became a ‘born-again Muslim’ after he retired from cricket in 1990 and then formed a political party (in 1996).
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A 1987 picture showing former Pakistan cricket captain sitting with conservative Pakistani military dictator, General Ziaul Haq. Khan had announced his retirement from cricket in 1987 but was coaxed to return to the team by Zia.
During the 1970s and 1980s, most major Pakistani cricket stars had political connections (though they were never a direct part of any party). For example, fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz, former Pakistan captain Mushtaq Muhammad and Javed Miandad were Bhutto fans.
And though Khan was not politically inclined towards Zia’s conservative policies, he remained a close acquaintance of the dictator.
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A 1976 photo showing famous Pakistani pop star, Alamgir, sharing a joke with popular TV actor and comedian, late Moin Akhtar. The photo was taken just before an Alamgir concert in Karachi that was hosted by Moin.
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Rare 1975-76 clip of Alamgir performing with a visiting Turkish pop singer on PTV. The song was later banned by the Zia dictatorship in 1978.
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Pakistani TV actors, Akbar Subhani, Shakeel and RJ on the set of a PTV play (1975). Subhani went on to become an accomplished stage actor, while Shakeel (centre) had already risen as a star on TV in the 1970s.
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Western tourists enjoy beer at the poolside of Karachi’s Intercontinental Hotel (1976). -Photo courtesy Rory McLane.
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American tourists travelling to Lahore from Karachi on a Pakistan Railways train (1976). -Photo courtesy Murad Husain and Bina Ahmed.
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A group of college girls relaxing outside their college in Karachi (1976).
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Rare footage of the famous Pakistan vs. India Test match played at the Karachi Stadium in 1978. Petering out as a dull draw, the match suddenly came alive when the Pakistan team captain, Mushtaq Muhammad, decided to chase the then impossible target of 160 plus runs in less than 25 overs in the last session of the match.
A 21-year-old Javed Miandad and Vice Captain, Asif Iqbal, were sent in as openers. After an incredible display of running between the wickets, Pakistan still required more than 8 runs an over when Iqbal got out.
Mushtaq sent in the young Imran Khan (then 26) to lift the scoring rate. After surviving a run-out scare, Khan tore into the Indian bowling attack by smashing two towering sixes and a four to take Pakistan home to victory.
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DAWN headline about the military take-over of General Ziaul Haq (July 1977). The elections did not take place ‘next October.’ Zia ruled for 11 years. Pakistan was never the same again.
Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Nadeem please watch 'war on democracy' by John Pilger. Just google it and you'll get the complete video
If I tell you all these facts then you'll say that I am a spokes person of Zaid Hamid.. haha
This brought tear to my eyes. I am going to think about it all day, how different Pakistan could have been.
Oh look the power just cut. Oh, Pakistan.
I saw this change with my own eyes.
Bhutto distroyed the country in two ways: First by declaring "you rule your side, we rule ours" and not accepting the election results where MujiburRahman had won. This resulted in Bagladesh. Later when he bacame PM, he ruined the industry by nationalizing it.To give your an example, Pakistan had three car assembly / manufacturing companies. After nationalization, all of them shut down.
I was one of the unfortunate to be a teenager during Zia's time. It was clear that Islam was misused by Zia and his supporters like Nawaz Shareef. Poor people were tortured in name of religion and secetarian hatred was introduced by the State.
Now people have no idea about the beautiful past when people were tolerant and looking forward to good future.
A lot of "Islam and Muslim" vs the rest harassment began during Bhutto's time when he declared Ahmadis non-Muslims and right after that students at the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore set living quarters of a couple of our professors on fire. Zia perpetuated it, he was not the instigator.
Concur with Sadiq. Bhutto gave a slogan but mismanaged after denationalization. Trust faded and we are still at the horn's of dilemma. With the fear that socializm might be the answer, although slogan was hollow and feudals again entered in PPP and they are ruling and will continue to rule for many more generations. To make Pakistan an open minded society, youngsters will have to gear up the youth at all levels and bring a socio-cultural revolution.
The seeds of massive corruption in government were also laid during ZA Bhutto's tenure
Yes Bhutto's nationalisation hurt the economy badly, but this wasn't the killing blow. Pakistan wasn't the only country going through nationalisation, several others did the same, even UK to an extent. Do they face the same quagmire as we do? No!
Remember, economic wrongs can be overcome with time, society's degradation and lack of tolerance is a lot harder to overcome. What Zia did was to ruin the very fabric of our society, something from which we haven't been able to get out of and infact are sliding further down!
I dont think the society in Pakistan was ever 'tolerant' of other religion. Yes it has probably become more and more intolerant over the years. To blame one or two individual for this change is really silly scapegoating. Intolerance is woven into the very fabric of this society for ages and whatever has happened is simply natural and logical progression from the temporary dilution in intensity brought in by British rule.
So Indian Society is very tolerant! Do you forget what tolerant Hindus did with Muslims in Gujarat and still in your tolerant society, Muslims and even other minorities are far behind in the fields of education, job and economic opportunities. What about some of your political parties, their unwritten motto is 'Muslims should leave India or live like a 3rd rated citizens, which they are right now? Trust me, Muhammad Ali Jinnah did the marvellous job of creating Pakistan, as Muslims are much safe and happy and have access to all opportunities in Pakistan, which otherwise they would have never..
You are forgetting the elephant in the room – the Pakistani Army. It is not just Zia. The role the Army has played is to take a disproportionate amount of resource (huge budget), toppled Governments but above all train and support terrorists like the LeT. The Army was responsible for the separation of Bangladesh – the killings of Bangladeshis by the army in 1971 is what galvanized the Mukti Bahini into action. Perhaps it is not politically safe to blame the Army for anything.
If you were a teen during Zia then how can see the change Bhutto made with your own eyes. You were probably just coming out of your diapers.
thanks for the photographs of the good old days,we may never see them again.
zia shaheed gave us chars and klashinkov…… i wonder if this is the true pakistan.
Pictures present a much more authentic view than mere writing. I have been discounting NFP as an ultra leftist all the time. The images reflect the view of Pakistan from a leftist lense. No doubt the nation was left of center at that time, but not too much away from the center. The nation moved from a left of center to way to the right in 25 years since 1978. The younger generation only know the Pakistan that is right of center, moving furhter right. The only party at the national level that represented the left (PPP?, MQM is still a regional party) is marred by corrupt leaders and lack of democracy. It is the failure of the left to provide a balance to the nation's political ideology.
Sometime I just wonder what really happened to our society back in late 70 and 80's.How this transition happened from more secular to religious mind set. I guess we need to see what major events happened during that time._From 1965 – 1975 (secular era)_1- War with India _2-Partition of Pakistan_3- Nationalization (which basically destroyed economy)_From 1975-1985 _1- People started moving toward religion (because leftist did not deliver) _2-Zia marshall law_3-Afghan War (war against communism)_I wish during 60's and 70's government emphasized more to solve people problem rather than spending time for power struggle than probably we are in much better situation. Even today it is the leftist govt and see what they have done so far with people of pakistan, Give me any good reason why people don't incline towards right winger. Eventhough I don't like rightwing parties.
It is the sick mind of Zia that sowed the seeds of destruction and poison within our society and the money of the saudi that funded it all and made sure those seeds take root and survive.
Outsider's observations by seeing the pics:
Pakistan looks perfectly normal as East in 1950's.
It started walking towards Western fundamentalism in 1960's.
It started racing to become West (Islamic fundamentalist country) in 1970's and it became so in 1990's.
After that it became Talibani in 20's.
What will happen in 2010's, is still to be seen..
Congrat NFP on a fantastic pictorial perspectrive.
Is a secular Pakistan dead forever? We can only dream it seems that the
principles this country was founded on can one day be reality.
Been almost 24 years since Zia passed away. If this was all his doing then the effects would have vanished by now. NFP's notion of social change in Pakistan is simplistic and cannot withstand scholarly analysis. We need a more scholarly analysis of this phenomenon.
Well balanced analysis.
I wonder how your comments got through Dawn's ultra-conservative and un-realistic editorial board, where Indians are free to spit all kinds of poison and Pakistanis are deprived of the chance to counter them. Absolutely hopeless attitude of so called well reputed newspaper..
How lucky those olds bolks of pakistan are…….!! I wish i could see sucha pakistan aging in my life .only hope
Don't know if I can show pride for the drinking alcohol and smoking culture (which is even banned in western countries now), but certainly would like to see the tolerance return back in Pakistan. Sure mullahs can be free to preach to whomever and whichever way they like, as long as they don't breach on any one one's right to live their life freely. Freedom of expression and tolerance is very important in any society for it to prosper and innovate.
very true … nothing to be proud of in the fact that alcohol was freely available back then…… there is nothing wrong with freedom as long as the "freedom" doesn't turn into "cultural invasion" !
Well said both of you.
Freedom is a choice. One can see invasion of another culture just because you appreciate a nice foreign cuisine, or if it is alcohol then its my choice. Just if I dont stop you from appreciating a good burger, you don't have to stop me from exercising my choice. Tolerance is key. As long as its not hampering your household, lets not be self righteous. Our country has seen enough darkness.
These pictures give HOPE which is what we need today to remain optimistic.
WHAT A TRAGEDY. FROM NORMAL TO HELL IN ABOUT ELEVEN YEARS. THANKS TO ZIA UL HAQ. I WONDER WHAT HE IS DOING UP THERE WHEN HE LOOKS DOWN AT PAKISTAN AND SEES THE COUNTRY HE TURNED PAKISTAN IN TO.
I KNOW ALLAH SHEDS A TEAR EVERY TIME HE LOOKS DOWN UPON PAKISTAN. HE DOES NOT WANT AND NEVER ALLOWED WHAT IS BEING DONE IN HIS AND ISLAM'S NAME.
MR. JINNAH IS TURNING IN HIS GRAVE.
"Doing up there"? I may not have been born until 1988, however from what I've read and heard, if there is an "up there", Zia Ul Haq is definitely not there.
What is Zia doing? He is laughing his ass off…
ALLAH PAK knows wat is good n wat is bad so never sheds tears …!!!!
Whenever NFP posts these pictures it always reminds me of what didnt happen to curtail Zia. The generation of the 70's and 80's didnt stand up to him. There was no revolution to hold on to civil rights and basic need for freedom. We gave into his brand of politics and tyranny becasue to the people of that era their self was more important than the needs of the country. Yes Zia did a lot of damage to us and our country but so did Hitler to Germany. But even after total devastation in WW's Germany emerged as a force to reckon with. We dont have to go through total devastation to re-build if we start now with this generation
A lot of people who stood up to Zia were wiped out! There was huge repression by a Totalitarian regime that made black lists of Progressives and hounded then out of Institutions and Journalists who were Banned and even publicly flogged. It was the most brutal and oppressive Martial Law that used religion for its ends.
Ppl did stand up to him.. but he did 2 things..
1) Use religion as a shield and branded anyone who stood up against him as an "enemy of the religion" – and they were whipped in public.
2) Distribute money to the corrupt politicians who still have no vision or brain of their own and whose only aim in to come to power and make money.
Afghan war did a lot of damage to us too.. that gave these mullahs and lunatics like Zia to import weapons for free and distribute them…
But what are we doing to stop the uncouth and uneducated plunderer sitting as President – the Zardari who is lording over Pakistan….forget what in the past with Zia, jo guzar gaya uss ka rona choro bhi ab….have we learnt anything from it to prevent Pakistan spirlaling down NOW, in the present tense.
I was in Bombay in 1978. At that time there was no National TV in India, but the upper Middle Class and Rich who could afford TV had it in their houses would go to their Roof Tops in the evenings to turn the TV antennae towards Karachi to catch popular Pakistani TV Broadcast. Apparently that was far more entertaining that the local Bombay Telecast. Apparently the kids would go to school the next day and gloat about how they could watch the Pakistani TV. Compare and Contrast the TV Telecast now. Saying Hell and Heaven would be an understatement.
Of course you can say how pathetic Indian TV was or how good Pakistani TV was.
Thanks for sharing the info, Ram, and I remember in our times late eighties and beginning nineties when we would point our antenna's to catch Indian channels in Pakistan, and by putting those boosters to catch indian channels. How times have changed. makes me sad to see my country now, I was quite happy with changing the antenna's and watching Indian channels but now its just mental.
Pakistan TV dramas are still far better than their counterparts in india.
still living in denial…..get a life man.
I agree with "innohunter"….Our T.V dramas still rock!!!
Even as an Indian I totally agree with Shabzilla and (of course) with whomever he agrees — that Pak dramas do indeed "rock" — and it is all there for us i.e. the rest of the world to see translated to REAL LIFE dramas — what with all the intrigue, conspiracies and terror/violence that they export especially to Afghanistan, and India. Now we know from where they get the ideas eh!
And just look at most news and articles/media shows emanating about and from Pakistan — if its not as the "Terror King", then it is certainly the "Drama Queen"!!
That's not denial, it's called an opinion.
Please lets appreciate the positive things Ram is saying. This is not a competition but a dialog. Let peace togather when we have the opportunity.
Yes Ram, I agree with you but then India started their fast approach towards progress and pakistan started there decline in every field…. because Indains got better leaders but Pakistan did not. Imagine Indian PM is PhD in Economics and Pak president is…… we all know what are his credentials!!
Damn you NFP ! You made me cry again !!
It was this vibrant society my father used to talk a lot about. He is gone and so is the tolerant society. I wish all this come back. I have tears too in my eyes.
I wish there was peace and justice in Pakistan. I wish people could express without being killed. I wish there was less corruption. I am not a mullah but I didn’t appreciate the western culture/behayayee though.
ZIA SHAHEED GAVE US TRUE PAKISTAN MAY ALLAH BLESS HIM AMEEN
zia shaheed gave us chars and klashinkov, i wonder if this is the pakistan you are talking about. he gave us the power and will to use religion as tool to play with our and others lives. he gave us the audacity to fool our selves and the very nation we call pakistan. i wonder if this is the true pakistan.
Zia shaheed was a puppet of US. So blame the master not the slave please.
yes but why they find perfect puppets in us most of time? this is the same line of argument we are hearing from so long.
please watch 'war on democracy' by John Pilger.
But you are ok with how this society has become vulgar and hypocritical despite being fully clothed?
Zia destroyed 3 generations of Pakistanis and you are calling him shaheed … !!!
I can only deplore on your mental health
Not only three generations but Zia ruined the future of Pakistan.
But for this Jinnah asked for Pakistan..Based on Islam ..so you have now..Kill the Kafir what else..first consider non-muslims as Kafir then kill them..as NO Non-Muslims left in Pakistan ..So try to findout kafir within yourself..and kill them…Like Taliban who consider themselves as the Gaurd of Islam.
Zia Shaheed was sponsored and fully supported by the West. US wanted to have a religious ally country to challenge Iranian revolution. And then US also tried the same in Afghanistan through Taliban. Unfortunately US failed both time and rolled back the funding. Good thing is that due to the media archive and easy access, people now know it well. So Pakistan will inshaAllah become a better Muslim country without US intervention in future. People always criticize Zia but never think that he was ally to whom? US.
Please read as Saudi wherever you see US.
Saudi .. sure, they have US base and US military equipment. All Saudi money is in US banks and still it is Saudi and not US.. sure. Saudi kings are US puppets like Housni Mubarak of Egypt and it is Saudi and not US.. sure.
Very True Lateef, Saudi kings are trying to destabilise every single muslim country in the world, who is not following their definition of Islam
Well said Pradeep ….. this cancer is all saudi funded and sponsored
100% Correct
Most probably it is done through petro dollars, received from Saudia on the command of america.
Problem doesn't lie with US or Saudi, it is within ourselves.
As per Lateef comments, it was all US with petro dollars (may be). One superpower fighting with another on neutral grounds and unfortunately we became the party and still can't decide whose war are we fighting.
Stop blaming the US for everything.
What a pack of lies…the US never supported Zia in his fanatic imposition of extremist Islam…his anti-western policies were not the idea of the US…wake up and blame the real enemy, religious radicals…
Zia, the kana (one eyed)shaheed, is causing a lot of shahadat of the innocents even from beyond the grave. Imagine Pakistan if he had got his mangos earlier
TRUE PAKISTAN = intolerance, hatred, no civil rights for poor, no rights for minorities, nepotism, corruption, suicide and target killings in the name of religion – Is that what you call True Pakistan??? I'd rather live in the FAKE Pakistan of the 60's and 70s then!
Are you nut?
Go live in Afghanistan and enjoy more of what Zia gave us.We should also not forget services of another man greatly responsible for this mess – Hamid Gul.
His soul definitely needs lot of blessing , as his hands are tainted with the blood of thousands of people, we are reaping what he sowed.
Wow !! for generation from 80's and 90's
Thanks for sharing the rear memories of old times. One correction though! In the picture where we have TV actors Shakeel, RJ and Akbar Subhani, you mentioned Akbar subhani as Subhani Bhai Younus. Please make a correction.
This RJ is likely to be Raju Jamil, son of Jamiluddin Aali (poet, columnist). He also appeared in Khuda ki Basti and then in Ankahai.
I think if we just become Muslim , most of our problems will resolve automatically. Which Muslim doesn't know that " Bride giver and bribe takers are both in hell fire" and yet we are one of the top corrupt nation in the world. Which Muslim doesn't know that "Muslim is one who doesnt harm other muslim with his tongue and hand" and see the rate of abuse and murder in our country. Which muslim doesn't know that "if you kill a single innocent human being then it is like killing the whole humanity" and see our behaviour. I think the pictures look good but the society have changed a lot and our tolerance levels have decreased a lot.
The core values of Islam are missing in Pakistan. We do not recognize Huqooq-al-ibaad, we do not know our rights, we have 30% literacy, we cheat, we bribe, we are not tolerent, and we do not understand our deen and Quran and rely too much on mullah to interpret islam for us who misguides us all the way. We need to stop voting the corrupt leaders back into the parliament and that is dependant on the 70% rural population to understand. Media can reach these people, though our media also plays in the hands of cunning politicians for money.
Quran may say all good but who is going to interpret it in today's world ????
Taliban too say they are the good and pious Muslims.
Don't want hurt anybody but being rational is impossible for everyone.
We should Judge religon by its principles not by its followers.
out of 1.5 bn muslims around world how many understand and following principles. Very few, look middle east, Africa, South asia. my view Principles needs to be simplify in today's light
lol. So you are suggesting that Muslims now change their religion to fit the modern age just like as the Christians did?. Anyhow the principles are very very simple . e,.g
–> All human beings are equal , any black has no precedence over any white and any while has no precendence over any black.
–> every body is equal in front of law.
–> You are not allowed to cheat , rob or bribe etc.
—> You are not allowed to have sex without marriage etc etc.
Do you need more simple laws then that?
Quran is not a book of rocket sceince and basic fundamentals are very very clear. You dont need to be a PHd to know what are the rights of other human beings.
oh bhai abdul…khuda key liyey ab aur musalman bananey ke jaga nahin rahi….maaf karo maaf karoo
Strange comment. What is problem of being a Muslim?
Many. Lack of tolerence tops my list.
Oh mera Pakistan.
I was born in 1952, and have seen all the glroy and then unfortunate radicalizing and destruction of our beloved Pakistan.
Yoe should share photos so that we young ones can understand what and how life really was may we would be able to work towards it, i mean may be we will be able to get some motivation / drive from your photos.
can only say………thanks a lot for sharing this. We never knew about it
Thank you for revealing what most of Pakistanis deny, their human-ness, and continue to deny the normalcy of their lives.