Muhammad Mehmood Alam who was popularly known as M. M. Alam was the iconic figure that Armed Forces all over the world and especially of Pakistan Air Force cannot forget. The nonpareil respect of MM Alam is evidenced by the fact that he was the world’s only jet ace in one mission!

People usually overlook the fact that this legend didn’t get his fame only due to the 1965 Indo-Pak war, Squadron Leader Mahmood Alam was already a notable and prized leader of the No 11 Squadron at the time of the 65 war. The veteran who excelled in gunnery competition, as well. Apart from being the best at his job, he was awarded Sitara e Jurrat (the star of courage) by the armed forces of Pakistan for his services during the war. The unforgettable record that every person in the field recognized him for was made when he shot down FIVE Indian air-crafts in less than a minute! Another fact that is lesser known to the world is that the first four of those air-crafts were shot down in the first 30 seconds –a world record.

The fighter pilot who managed alone to raise the pride worthiness of the Pakistani Air Forces to greater heights flew a North American F-86 Sabre. He retired from the Air Force in 1982 when he was ranked as an Air Commodore (a one star general rank). There on, he took up a more religious route in his life. During the 1965, it is not just the 5 air-crafts he downed; the famed Sabre, that MM Alam flew, had eleven little Indian flags, each one denoting an Indian aircraft that went down at his hands. Out of those, seven were Hawker Hunter fighters. Our country could have never been more proud of a patriot!

The legend, as we prefer to call him rightly, has been suffering greatly from respiratory issues in the past 18 months and often had to be moved to hospitals for treatment. On the 18^th of March, this true war hero who had inspired numerous generations to join the air force breathed his last at the PNS Shifa. The Pakistani Air Force and Navy spokesmen were of the opinion that his health had deteriorated due to age. He was 78.

The eldest of 11 siblings, MM Alam was of Bengali origin, though patriotism knows no boundaries. He was laid to rest at the graveyard in Masroor Airbase Karachi. Air Vice Marshal Mahmood Akhtar praised the deceased in words that can simply not be altered saying that on September 8th, 1965, he was given the order to fly a B-57 bomber from Mauripur airbase along with another bomber for an across-the-border mission. He flew at 40,000 feet from Mauripur to Jodhpur and Amritsar in India and landed back in Peshawar without the Indian air force or their air defense intercepting it.

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Killing innocent people because of petty differences is just plain old brutal. I personally just get disgusted by the thought of taking a human life just for the sake of worthless pieces of paper we call money.Pakistan –KARACHI, a bomb blast; pieces of human body shredded to dust; bikers shooting random innocent people just for the heck of it. That’s what all you hear nowadays when you turn on any news channel on TV. These target killings have been a rising form of violence and have contributed to instability and insecurity all over Pakistan.

Such incidents have become unacceptably frequent in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest cicty and major financial hub. The police has failed to do anything about it. We are sitting in our living rooms enjoying hot cocoa on these cold winter nights while in Karachi, a family is probably being torn to pieces. The word doomsday can’t even begin to describe what it’s like for the families and friends of victims of such sporadic incidents of violence.

For most of the part, target killings in Karachi have been is because of political, religious and ethnic motives. Now we’ll talk about some of the possible causes that might be the reason of these killings, especially in Karachi. Karachi, being an industrial center, has attracted migrants from all parts of Pakistan. This metropolitan city has become the most multicultural place in Pakistan, serving as a home to Biharis, Punjabis, Pukhtuns, Muhajirs and many more ethnic communities. I personally believe that the theory of clash of these civilizations come into effect over here.

It’s just not possible for a so much diverse group of people to live together in peace. Furthermore, religious extremism just adds fuel to the fire. This religious extremism has manifested itself in the form of a long term Shia-Sunni conflict that has now spread to the rest of the country as well. Also, the failure of the Pakistani government in controlling the situation is a matter of great shame for local rulers. Political instability accounts to that. Best examples include the never-ending feud between the the Awami National Party that is largely supported by Pathan immigrants and the Mutahida Qaumi Movement, which consists of Urdu-speaking Muhajirs.

Now the inevitable question arises: What can we do to resolve this dilemma? Well, I think handing control of the city to the army for a little while won’t do any harm, not here anyways considering its situation. Yes, that might sound like a little dictator-biased to you, but we are running out of options. Steps must be taken or else we lose our biggest city and financial capital to these lowlifes forever.

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Out of nowhere, Tahir-ul-Qadri appears to be Pakistan’s latest political force-to-be-reckoned with. An Islamic scholar based in Canada, Qadri had made the decision to move out of Pakistan years ago. His sporadic return to Pakistan in December and his entry into local politics has left an-already confused political scenario in the country baffled.

Rallying under the slogan “save the state, not your politics,” Qadri has made a number of scathing remarks about the current government, demanding on several occasions that it resign immediately. He has threatened to engage in a long march until the government resigns and elections are held under an interim government consisting of honest people.

Most would not have taken Qadri seriously so soon after his entry into politics, but a rally held at the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore saw tens of thousands of attendees. To many political analysts, his growth in popularity has been nothing short of surprising.

Qadri, a law graduate, is a prominent Islamic scholar, academic, philanthropist. Although he set up a political party in 1989, he was unable to win a single seat in parliament until 2002, when he won a seat in elections generally believed to be tailor-made to suit the then-President Pervaiz Musharraf. Despite limited political success, Qadri is renowned as a peace-activist and an educationalist working under the banner of his Minhajul Quran International.

Although little is known about Qadri’s political manifesto besides his opposition to the ruling political party and all its allies in the government, Minhajul Quran International is recognized for its contributions in trying to develop interfaith harmony. Qadri was widely applauded in Pakistan and abroad when he issued a fatwa against terrorists fighting in the name of Islam. He categorically declared that Islam was a religion of peace, backing up statements with quotations from Islamic texts. He has also spoken about the compatibility of democracy in the Islamic system of government.

Qadri’s proposed long march was initially backed up by the Karachi-based party, MQM. However, the MQM has now ruled out participating in the long march, leaving Qadri’s political group isolated in its endeavor. It remains to be seen whether his attempt to move to prepone the elections will be successful. However, his timing has been the source of much debate, since his long march is just months before the scheduled general elections in Pakistan. Critics argue that this is just an attempt to destabilize democracy in a country where no elected parliament has ever completed a five year term.

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