Ahmad Faraz, RIP; Haq Maghfirath Karay...

If there was every a time to to invoke the old line "Haq maghfirath karay, ajab azaad mard th-haa", it is today, as we mourn the passing of a titan.

From The News:

Legendary poet Ahmed Faraz passes away
Updated at: 1720 PST, Thursday, July 17, 2008

CHICAGO: Renowned poet and literary figure of Pakistan Ahmed Faraz died of kidneys failure here at a local hospital on Thursday.

He was under treatment at a hospital in Chicago.

Update: News reports and his family attest that he is still alive but struggling. Please keep him in your prayers. [09:34 Pacific Time.]
http://pakistaniat.com/2008/07/17/ahmed-ahmad-faraz/

On Zimbabwe, Mubgabe and the International Community

Just had the following to say about Zimbabwe to a friend who was despondent about the recent Security Council disaster on Zimbabwe:

"The Zimbabwe situation is not just a symptom of UN dysfunction. There's a couple of other layers to it: including Africans themselves not being able to bring themselves to go after a person who was once one off their most respected freedom fighters. The loud and aggressive posture Britain, for one, has taken about Mugabe--and for a very long time--grates even on my sensibilities as a person born in West Africa and who still remembers when Zimbabwe became independent. In fact, the British--and even the BBC's--attitude to Zimbabwe plays the same role George Bush's posturing on democracy does: driving people further into the arms of radicals, or at least making it difficult for people to stand what seems like the same side as them."

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