I’ve lived through one Ramazan in the winter, obviously a long time ago, so I can wrap my head around fasting and wearing a sweater. But that I would be doing so in April fasts was beyond me. The earlier part of Ramzan at least has passed in unseasonally balmy weather, and it is almost as if it’s raining every day.
I wonder whether this has raised the bar for next Ramzan. That’s a year away, though, and it’s of more interest whether we will celebrate one Eid. Well, we’re in lockstep with the Arab world, but it was because the Arabs failed to see the moon, and then we did. Let’s hope we all see the moon on the same day.
I suppose there will be some who will think Hamza Yousaf becoming Leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, and then First Minister of Scotland in quick order, something of a Ramzan miracle. Well, his connection is to Mian Channu, from where his grandfathers both migrated
It’s funny about migrations. The late Ghulam Haider Wyne migrated to Mian Channu, from Amritsar, and rose to become first Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (when Mustafa Jatoi entered the National Assembly, he stepped back to become Leader of the IJI parliamentary party), and then Punjab Chief Minister. He was ousted through a no-confidence motion (which would never pass these days, not with the Supreme Court’s judgement on Article 63A still in the field). It got worse, because he was gunned down in the election campaign that year (1993).
Hopefully, Hamza Yousaf won’t have his First Ministry ended so abruptly (though he should watch the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Assembly, Alison Johnstone, very carefully, lest she pull a Manzoor Wattoo on him), nor his life. However, provincial chief executives named Hamza (admittedly a somewhat small set, with one other member, Hamza Shehbaz) don’t have a great record. So Hamza Yousaf should try to keep in good with the judiciary. He does want to end up like Hamza. I mean, perhaps the only thing worse than being a court-ordered CM is being ousted as CM as the result of a court order.
For a change, let’s look at a politician about to be indicted. With woman trouble. No, we’re not talking about the Cuptaan, the Toshakhana or Tyrian White. We’re talking about Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels. She was a porn star who had an affair with Trump in 2018. However, she took $130,000 from Trump’s lawyer in 2020 to sign a Nondisclosure Agreement about the affair. Trump is accused of campaign finance violations.
Similarly, Imran is not being accused of adultery, though a charge would lie, but of not declaring a child on his nomination papers. Under Muslim personal law, Imran would be unrelated to the girl, as he never married her mother, and does not have to mention her on the nomination form. However, no one has taken that plea. I wonder why?
There’s all sorts of funny things happening in politics, and Dr Amber Shahzada, that gadfly of politics, has passed away. A sign that the Punjab polls will not take place? Admittedly, I don’t think Dr Amber ever fought a provincial seat, going down, or rather crashing, to defeat in the National Assembly polls in Nawaz Sharif’s constituency.
He perhaps showed the dangers of doing a masters’ in philosophy. And the party he founded, the Aap Janab Sarkar Federation, is said to be named after three (female) students of the Philosophy Department at GC. Proof that the female is deadlier than the male came in Nashville, Tennessee, where a female indulged in the grand old American sport of school shooting, killing six. Or was it some feminist thing, showing that women can kill randomly too? It wasn’t a first, only rare.
According to the Violence Project, in 172 mass shootings (with four or more killed) since 1966 in the USA, only four have been by women. Well, let’s hope this doesn’t give the terrorists ant ideas. Males accounted for the four policemen, a DSP and his guards, killed in Lakki Marwat.
