I love my job!

Farrukh loves the camera

There are some colleagues who we donot know personally but the kind of passion they show towards their work wins over our hearts. Farrukh Asif, is one such co worker. And I realised his qualities on the recent trip to Hunza to cover the Attabad lake crisis.

He had a problem gulping down breakfast each morning and our shooting schedule was always planned for early morning. Without a frown he would be ready to leave with me. So passionate and agile towards his work that every evening he would surprise me with the extra shots he had taken , that I had not even asked for ! That ofcourse contributed a great deal towards making my reports visually rich.

I suffered from slight disbelief when I found out that police had beat him for simply doing his job. He was only shooting video of a scuffle between police and inflential people in Liberty market over an illegal parking lot. This goes on to show how insecure themselves are those responsible for ensuring security for the junta.

Just go through the statistics below. It will give you a sense of how alarming the situation is.
In 2008, there were 51 cases of torture on journalists in Islamabad alone, 39 in Sindh, 22 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 16 in FATA, 14 in Balochistan and one incident in the northern areas.

Three journalists were killed in Lahore while four others were murdered in Sindh and Balochistan each.

About 13 journalists were kidnapped as well in 2008.

While in 2009, 34 journalists in Islamabad recieved life threats. 22 journalists in Sindh, 10 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine in FATA and four in Balochistan also faced a similar situation.

Meanwhile, the South Asian Free Media Association's record shows that 12 journalists have been killed in South Asia in the current year.

Of these, seven media personnel were killed in Pakistan alone including journalist Ashiq Ali Mangi. In all these cases, police failed miserably to bring any of the culprits to justice.

Not only that but police and lawyers were also actively involved in several cases of torture.

35 journalists have been manhandled by either police or lawyers in 2010.

Doctors at Jinnah Hospital also tortured media officials on March 5th of the current year.

The young, energetic Farrukh is now under treatment at a hospital in Lahore. I am sure the wounds on his body would heal soon but what about the cuts on his soul. How would they be cured?

Gaffe McChrystal

Bye Bye McChrystal

So, what is so wrong with not wanting to open an email from a colleague or coworker or even a boss? And all of us at one time or another, have thought about one of our colleagues as being like a clown. But we do not say that out aloud and never ever before a journalist!

General Stanley Mc Chrystal perhaps got carried away in the devotion to his mission in Afghanistan as the top US military commander or may be was naïve to the tricky world of media. Or may be he did want to say all of what he said about the US Civilian Administration in that article in Rolling Stone magazine.

President Obama has often had to make tough and difficult decisions eversince he assumed office. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill matter has had him act stern and now General Stanley Mc Chrystal. President Obama sacked him despite a quick apology from the General. But his sacking does underscore the comment that it is something more than just being an” enormous mistake”on the part of the General as Robert Gates put it.

And while, President Obama claims that there is unity of vision in the US command on the mission in Afghanistan, we now know that this wasn’t the case! Mc Chrystal was following a strategy aimed at fewer civilian deaths in Afghanistan. McChrystal had succeeded in getting Obama send 30,000 additional troops to the country but at the same time he did not find the July 2011 troop withdrawal date any realistic.

People who have been sympathising with Mc Chrystal are also no longer in US good books. For example, Mr. Hamid Karzai, Afghan president.He has clearly said that replacing Mc Chrystal would not be good for peace and stability in his country. And it goes without saying that this replacement of the top military commander has come at a difficult time for the mission in Afghanistan, with Taliban quarters looking at it as a proof of the failing strategy of coalition troops in the country.

To make a choice between US democratic system requirements and factors that could lead to success at war, was something that has made Obama say that accepting Mc Chrystal’s offer to resign was a tough one to make. Saying, war is bigger than any one man,he decided in the favour of US National Security but doesn’t that have a stake in successful and logical conclusion of the Afghanistan mission?

Hunza in Pictures

Diary Khan brings you pictures from the journey to Hunza to cover the Attabad Lake.Special thankyou to Farrukh Asif, of the Express Lahore.

Do you have that Phone number? With the helpful Shakir Roomi, Express Gilgit Correspondent before setting out for Hunza

On the bridge that connects Gilgit and Hunza

Rock slide on the road to Hunza. These can increase your journey time by hours

The water you see is flowing at the point of village Ginesh

From the roof top......

Giving an update.....

Lady Finger Peak

Reporting from the Altit IDP camp

Tamizuddin, studying in tents as his school building is being used as IDP hostel in Altit

Taking that last read

Reconfirming........

You can never get lost in KarimabadAffectees waiting for helicopter to get to their homes at the Alliabad helipad

Giving an evening report......No, I think its that way A beautiful view from Darbar Hunza
Taking a first look at the hills in AttabadThank God , you brought this Paratha along!The Attabad LakeHills around the lake turned into rubbleCracks in the ground that indicate erosionThat is the hill that suffered landslide on Jan 4 2010This is how the report looks like....At the Attabad LakeSitting at the Spill WayOn the KKHI didn't, FWO constructed the KKHHow did they get on the hill to write that?A beautiful village
These cracks show the scale of the erosion at the Spillway

Farrukh shooting the landslide being cleared by locals on Gilgit Hunza roadLearning to welcome tourists at a young ageInnovation A long long way to go


Har Khabar Par Nazar

All Things FIFA

Naomi Campbell unveiling Loius Vuitton FIFA World Cup 2010 in Paris

SILENTIUM GALVANUS ( CALA BOCA GALVAO) is a homeopathic remedy produced by Airton Krauniski Labs in Brasil. Normally used during the World Cup to avoid apoplexy duing a match. There are some rumours in Twitter that someone gave an overdosis to Lady Gaga, who now is considering recording a new single, “Cala Boca Galvao”, currently #1 in the TT

Confirming Unconfirmed Reports

Here, I find myself surrounded with stories and not some - many of them. The real test seems to be making a decision about which story to explore.

Some bizarre things happen too which consume my time. Just this morning , I saw alerts running on leading news channels that suggested that authorities in Hunza had decided to blow up the spill way at the Attabad lake so that the lake could be drained. There was a temptation , of course to call up the news room and give this news because news channels with a so called credible reputation were saying that.

I instead called up the District Administration , that told me that this was nothing but mischief. How on earth could explosives be used to blow up the spillway? The impact would definitely disturb the debris of the lake and no one would be able to say how would the water behave.

And to my embarrassment, this invited criticism on the way media organisations behave at times. They thanked me for confirming with them and so when I called up mu news room at Express News and Express 24/7, the confusion was cleared.

Journalists can never forget their responsibility towards society. As for Hunza, my friend here says the weather is as unpredictable as are girls....hmmm! but I think one got to be a poet to capture the beauty of this place in words.

I wish I was one!

Travelong

This place is every kilometer, sharp deep gorge staring blind turn and every single bump one surmounts to reach here.

I am in Gilgit and am supposed to cover the Attabad Lake problem for my organisation's English and Urdu broadcasts. The water in this artificial lake is rising by the minute and continues to pose threat to more area of being submerged in case it bursts its banks ,God forbid.

Just got in touch with the hospitable Shakeel Roomi. He is the Express Correspondent for Urdu. He is being kind enough to arrange our journey to Hunza - that will get us closer to the lake.

Need to get many things done before we leave.Its bad that I got no photo to upload that could show you how generous nature has been in giving beauty to this place. Chinar Bagh. Gilgit.