Ambassador forced to leave physicians’ function

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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Re: Ambassador forced to leave physicians’ function

Dear Yazidi friend,

Please refrain from cheating. I feel you know what I talk about. :)

aliG "hmmm"

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You're getting carried away with that sarcasm...and it's not working.

~~~Missing Someone~~~
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Dearest reinvented bhaijan...as you very well know I am not as clever as you are therefore I really couldn't understand what you are talking about...if you are saying I am cheating than obviously I must be cheating...after all as I said before I am learning all the tricks from you...but still there is a lot more to learn,,,and I am nothing in your comparision....hmmmm...

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Dear KK bhaijan...why are you boiling over this so called scarcism...I just converted your valueable postings in to simpler english so that the less intelligent beings roaming around this forum can understand better...and can appreciate your high intellect level..

what are Moderators for??
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Re: Ambassador forced to leave physicians’ function

Still not working.

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Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. It's just yazidi's way of saying he likes you.

► Heroic Batting Performance in 2nd Innings
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Reinvented bhaijan...KK bhaijan is saying when I am cheating I am imitating you...

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Oh really, didnt you know (despite my post) that this was Farooq 'Bhaiyya' Sattar's second trip for APPNA, and even in the first trip in 2006 he made a fool out of himself by going on and on with the speech until he got mocked and humiliated by the crowd after his racial slurs (which btw are a trade mark of any MQM speaker).

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Re: Ambassador forced to leave physicians’ function

This is all really interesting. Personally, I have heard Haqqani speak two weeks ago at a similar gathering and he is moderately well-spoken and some times interesting, but he was speaking in front of a group who was very gracious and welcoming.

If Haqqani sahab has a right to make a speech, the crowd also has a right to hackle him. Neither of them make good manners, but if you stick to freedom of speech, then the argument goes both way, innit?

I question the wisdom of those who invited F Sattar and H Haqqani to this gathering. Were the organizers so clueless that they had no idea about the feelings of their attendees? Or did they invite them in good faith and a few attendees decided to score cheap shots at the last minute (and rest of the crowd joined in - we Pakistanis mostly love dramas and circus and will follow anyone's lead to make a scene). Either way, while the attendees may have scored a small point here or there, it just leaves a very bad taste in the mouths of those who read about it, especially those dispassionate readers who are not familiar with the whole background. A newly-appointed ambassador hackled (and almost assaulted) by his own people in a foreign land ....? And not because he is a lousy ambassador or has done something wrong himself; its all because of an argument on a political issue. I mean, there should be a limit to how low we can go in behaving on foreign lands and representing the fine values of Pakistanis in front of other people.

ps. Haqqani's parting threat is absolutely hilarious "today you are insulting me but tomorrow when you need passports, you will come to me!!!". Hahahaha... As they say, "you can take a kid out of Azizabad, but you can't take Azizabad out of the kid" (I am just being facetious, of course!) :)

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^ Faisal, the scenario is like Musharraf, no one wants him in power, and is hated (which is why he avoids coming to the parliament, or any such place in public because hes now finally realized hes not well liked, a wee bit too late because hes grown quite senile). The sad thing is, Farooq 2IC Sattar was mocked once before in 2006 and he still thought he’d make it. Chaudhry Shujaat was smarter than him, he didnt dare show up this time despite the invitation after the great ‘applause’ he got on his introduction back in 2006 :hehe:

Masoom muhabat ka
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Re: Ambassador forced to leave physicians’ function

Dr Jamil Farooqi , the son of Azam Farooqi ( a Jamaat-e-Islami minister in Zia-ul-Haq's cabinet) started singing a poem emotionally when Haqqani was addressing to the crowd, to which Haqqani responded that i can reply with poems too but current Pakistani situation requires more concrete efforts then poems and this is where all the mayhem started.

Masoom muhabat ka
Masoom muhabat ka
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Jamaat is only good for emotional hogwash to trick people.

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Re: Ambassador forced to leave physicians’ function

I just saw this thread.

Just too sorry to see this happening too often by some Pakistani people.

Events of mob mentality and screaming/shouting too much in public affairs is just pathetic.

Pakistani physicians are very well respected all around the world. They are skilled, compassionate and extremely sincere in delivering health care.

I am amazed to see this kind of activity performed/staged or even pre-planned by some members of APPNA. This gives bad name to majority who despise and definitely are ashamed of these kind of activities performed by some of their colleagues.

Democracy and freedom of speech is fine and dandy but loosing temper,yelling/shouting and using physical force by anyone is just not acceptable..specially by people who are professionals and have others to give example and lead.

Just too bad. We need to learn to respect our country people regardless of their political association.
Inviting people with difference of opinion is good only when they are allowed to talk.

Can we set the example for others..let alone follow the good examples from others?

*There is nothing good about these people actions and one must condemn activities like this regardless who does it to whom. *

I am aware of people doing similar acts all over the world in many other forums/meetings but not to this extent.

What kind of impression the congressman had of these bunch of idiots?

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Excellent post.

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Thank you!:)

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Re: Ambassador forced to leave physicians’ function

here is another persons article who was present is same conference.

I Fell Among (the APPNA) Doctors
Aziz Akhmad July 10, 2008
Chowk: Humor: I Fell Among (the APPNA) Doctors
Tags: humour , american-pakistanis , patriotism , APPNA , doctors

In the last week of June, I was in Washington DC on personal business. When I arrived at the hotel, I could sense a commotion. A benign sort of commotion that you see at Penn Station in New York during the rush hours or, if you are not familiar with New York, at Islamabad Airport during the Hajj flights.

People milled around in the lobby, dragging their luggage and children behind them, going up and down the escalators, crowded in front of the elevators, and lounging around in the lobby. They were mostly Pakistanis (actually, Pakistani-Americans) — men, women in their colorful shalwar-kameez dresses, and a lot and lot of children, from toddlers to teens. I soon found out why.

The Association of Pakistani-American doctors, APPNA, was holding its annual get-together. Hundreds of doctors from all over the US, along with their families, had descended upon the hotel. They do this thing once every year in different cities.

A well-known columnist has described APPNA gatherings as mela-i-mawaishiaan (cattle show). I don’t agree with that description, even though the impact of the crowd, initially, was a bit overwhelming. Actually, having gotten over the initial experience, I started enjoying the energy and dynamics of the scene.

Majority of the families who had converged at the hotel came from small-town-America where, in some cases, the total population of their town did not exceed the number of people gathered at the conference. Therefore, the exuberance of the visitors at such a large gathering, in such a large hotel and in such a large city was understandable, even though it spilled over at times.

Among the many signs installed in the hotel lobby that directed the guests to different areas and meeting rooms there was also one indicating the precise timings of the 5 daily prayers.

Presence of religion in the hotel was palpable.

While walking down the corridor in search of my room, I saw a Pakistani man with a sparse beard emerge from his room, his trousers rolled up above the ankles, water dripping from his hands and arms, and droplets of water hanging from his beard. It was maghrib time. He asked me if I knew which way the qibla was. Reflexively, I pointed to what I thought was the west. He thanked me and quickly retreated into his room presumably to say his maghrib prayer.

It occurred to me later that I had misled the man, for in the US the qibla is towards the east. I felt guilty. But then to calm down the qualms of my conscience, I remembered the injunction: “To Him belongs the East and the West; so, whichever way you turn your face doesn’t really matter… “ Plus, I told myself, I had given the information in good faith.

The APPNA managers had also arranged a delightful bazaar in the basement of the hotel, which catered to the needs of the delegates in this world as well as in the world hereafter. There were stalls selling clothes and jewelry, and stalls selling spiritual books on cleansing the soul as well as the body. With an eye on the doctors’ deep pockets, there were also stalls selling property in Dubai and other investments. The women folks thronged the bazaar, mostly the clothing and jewelry sections.

When Pakistanis come together at any place, politics cannot be far behind. In fact, after religion politics seems to be their only passion. APPNA had invited prominent persons from Pakistan to get an update on what was happening back home. They included barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, Ahsan Iqbal (PML-N), Farooq Sattar of MQM, and Pakistan’s new ambassador in Washington, Mr. Husain Haqqani. All 300 seats in the hall were taken and there were also many people standing in the back and on the sides.

The speeches were followed by questions and answers. It was clear at the outset that the APPNA crowd was divided along the same political lines drawn so deeply on the political landscape of Pakistan. They expressed their emotions, often bordering on anger, with the same intensity, which has been visible in Pakistan since March 2007.

A large and vociferous section of the audience was for the restoration of pre-November 3 judiciary, which was the topic of discussion. Aitzaz Ahsan received a standing ovation from the audience both before and after his speech. Someone from the audience even hailed him as “Obama of Pakistan!”

Ahsan Iqbal of PML(N) was heard patiently. Farooq Sattar was occasionally heckled with shouts of ‘May 12!’ but managed to say what he had to say. However, all hell seemed to break loose when ambassador Haqqani spoke.

Mr. Haqqani is a smart man. He speaks well and writes well. He has written a great book, Between Mosque and Military, which, according to Professor Stephen Cohen, “ is brilliantly researched and written book that should be required reading for anyone who wishes to understand this increasingly important state.” But, on stage, that day, Mr. Haqqani looked and acted like a fighter rooster let loose in the ring. He would go after his “opponents” with sharp rebuttals and repartee that might have won him points in college debates but did not win many friends among the APPNA doctors present in the hall.
*
The acrimony generated during the political debate, however, seemed to disappear by the evening when, during a musical show, the doctors of political colors, having done with their Isha prayers at 10:15 P.M, broke into wild bhangra that lasted well past midnight.

During one of the trips to my room, I got into an elevator where there were already a few Americans or Europeans. (They stood out in the hotel!) Just when the doors of the elevator were closing, an ample and exuberant Pakistani woman, in her flowing and colorful dress, accompanied by 3 or 4 children, ranging in age from about 7 to 13, rushed in. We all squeezed ourselves and pulled in our tummies to accommodate the woman and the kids. When everyone was in and had pushed his/her destination-floor buttons (the children having pushed more than one), the doors closed and that usual awkward silence fell in the elevator. Breaking the silence, the woman announced, primarily addressing her children, like a schoolteacher to a class: “Hey, let’s sing Pakistani national anthem”. The children bashfully looked at their mother with question marks on their faces. They didn’t seem to think it was a great idea to sing in a closed space with strangers around. But the mother’s enthusiasm could not be contained. Like the conductor of a choir, with one hand raised, she piped up with a full-throated ‘Paaak sar zameeen shadbaad … The children simply stared at their toes in embarrassment. The strangers in the elevator, more perplexed than bemused, slipped out of the elevator at the first stop. I listened to her solo performance in silence. Had she not been so out of tune I would have possibly joined her.

Patriotism, like nostalgia, affects you at odd times and odd places, with unpredictable results.

Overall, it seemed the doctors had a good 3 days of R&R. Recreation and Religion, that is. What they need, I guess, is an injection of a bit of Renaissance and Reformation.

The writer is a human resource consultant who divided his time between New York and Islamabad.

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Re: Ambassador forced to leave physicians’ function

That was an interesting read, thanks nikemma.

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****ing Jahil Pakistanis. Its days like these I am very bloody happy my parents dissuaded me from joining the Foreign Service.

You attack another individual who you invite to the function and then hurl abuse and stupidity at them. Our people need a severe kick in the balls. I personally blame our leadership for the past 20 odd years.

Leadership comes from the top and the lack of respect and adherance to any concept of law and order is a simple aspect of the jahiliyat of our society.