Year 2011

This year like any other before it, was full of events which helped change the world which know of.

January 4, 2011 Salman Taseer (aged 66) was assassinated in Islamabad by his own security guard Mumtaz Qadri. In an interview with Meher Bukhari on Samaa TV, Taseer commented on his view about the country's blasphemy law which came under fire from different sections of Pakistani society. In the aftermath of his death, a sharp contrast between the ideological division of Pakistan society became apparent. Some called off a Fatwa against attending his funeral and hailed his assassin as a hero. The other group reluctant of expressing their sympathies parted their ways. I rang phone to a personal friend of late governor for condolence and was shocked by the attitude I received.

25 January 2011
Egyptian revolution started movement began on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 .The uprising was mainly a campaign of non-violent civil resistance, which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience, and labour strikes. Millions of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was ruling for more than 30 years.

Despite being peaceful in nature, the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters, with at least 846 people killed and 6,000 injured. What started symbolically in Tahrir Square of Cairo, quickly spread to Alexandria, and in other cities in Egypt. On 11 February, following weeks of determined popular protest and pressure, Mubarak resigned from office.

On January 27, 2011,
Raymond Davis killed two men in Lahore, Faizan Haider, 22 years old and Faheem Shamshad 26 year old. Davis turned out to be a former United States Army soldier, private security firm employee, and contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The U.S. and Pakistani governments did not agree as to Davis' legal status in Pakistan at the time of his arrest. Claim of him having a diplomatic immunity was denied by the Pakistani authorities. Overnight media coverage turned Davis into a household name throughout Pakistan, and his case was closely monitored and reported. Just when diplomatic efforts from US were appearing to eye any successful in persuading Pakistan for his release, one of the victim; Shamshad's widow, Shumaila Kanwal committed suicide and last words she uttered reflected her hopelessness for any justice be given to her. Pakistan's then foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also paid a price for denying American claim of Davis' diplomatic status. On March 16, 2011, Davis was released after families of two killed were paid $2.4 million blood money.

11 March 2011, Japanese Earthquake made headlines around the world. Earthquake of magnitude 9.0 approximately 70 kilometres east of the Oshika Peninsula, hit underwater at depth of approximately 32 km.

This also resulted in massive tsunami, which further caused destruction on a second level. The Japanese National Police Agency confirmed 15,844 deaths,5,890 injured, and 3,451 people missing across eighteen prefectures, as well as over 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. Around 4.4 million households in north-eastern Japan were left without electricity and 1.5 million without water. Japan declared a state of emergency following the failure of the cooling system at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

It crippled transportation, destroyed telecom, dams and water, ports, disrupted electricity and gas, and effected Japan's defence and space program. World Bank's estimated economic cost was US$235 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in world history. Despite international media and relief workers were not allowed in the country, what we saw was long cues of Japanese people patiently standing to receive basic stuff like water. The courage with which the nation lifted and emerged out of this tragedy, was the most spirited lesson learnt from this disaster worldwide.

22 April 2011 Moin Akhtar

(aged 60) was a Pakistani television, film and stage actor, as well as a humorist, comedian, impersonator, and a host. He was also a play writer, singer, film director and a producer.

We have grown up following his comedy on TV and stages. Akhtar was fluent in several languages, including English, Bengali, Sindhi, Punjabi, Memon, Pashto, Gujarati and Urdu. His fan following spreads throughout the subcontinent and his demise was followed by a national mourning.

His took off from the ever declining stage comedies of 80s & 90s and parted his ways from another comedian Omar Sharif, only to emerge as an iconic talent with a taste for meaningful satire and rich subjects. His legendary place in the entertainment industry of Pakistan, will always be felt with a huge vacuum left till eternity. He was a heavy smoker and died in Karachi after suffering from a heart attack.

May 2, 2011, Monday, Osama bin Laden
(aged 54) was reportedly killed in a US forces special operation, carried out in Abottabad. The news sent a shock wave throughout the world, but ripples it most created was inside Pakistan. Who? What? How? that followed, continued to spray onto minds of almost all citizens for weeks to come. Notably there were more questions left than answers, amid this saga. Osama was buried in sea within hours, and no visual picture of video is produced till date to confirm. Since American president announced the news instantly, Pakistan was only hoping for a peace to follow after the demise of their more feared enemy. Once again several absentee funerals were also reportedly prayed throughout Pakistan.

22 May 2011 PNS Mehran was attacked by militants carrying guns, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and hand grenades, killing 13 people, injuring 16 others and blowing up at least two military aircraft.

The dead include 11 navy officials and one Ranger, while two P-3C Orion, maritime patrol aircraft were destroyed within first few minutes of the attack. Not only live footage ran through most the news channels, but also live sounds of gun fires and explosions could be heard throughout the night in many nearby areas of Karachi. It took 14 hours for the security force to finally clear the base of militants. Preparation and tactics of the terrorist was acknowledged by the Naval chief.

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