From the Editor

Dear readers,

We are still reeling from shock. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the subsequent reaction to her death has hit us all. Though things are getting better slowly and gradually, it will definitely take us a long time to get over the tragedy.

This time, we have decided to incorporate your opinion about Benazir Bhutto's assassination, and also about vandalism caused by miscreants in our cover story. The losses suffered by common, innocent people are almost irreparable. Makes Us think that those who were responsible for burning and pillaging were anti Pakistan elements. BB would never have stood for it, for she was a patriot, a democrat at heart, and the leader of the poor.

Folks, do you remember the reaction of the British public when Queen of Hearts, Princess Di lost her life in mysterious circumstances?  Most of you out there must have been very young at that time, so let Us tell you that people poured out of their houses and stood at roadsides silently to show their grief, for hours at a stretch! There were conspiracy theories then also, and quite a few people blamed the royal family, yet not a single incident of violence took place.

John F. Kennedy was assassinated in America. He, too, was loved by the American public, but did Americans cause destruction to their own country?

Why do Pakistanis, who, incidentally, are too poor too indulge in self-destruction, go berserk? What did those terrorists achieve by torching factories with workers inside who were burnt to death? Why were the Edhi centres attacked and looted? Why were the train engines and bogies burnt?

Think about it, folks.

Till next week,

Allah hee Hafiz

Dear Editor

Confessions to Jinnah

Dear Ed,

The confessions made to Jinnah were not just the confessions of a single man, but were the confessions of the whole nation. The article touched our hearts. I hope to see more from the writer, as he certainly has a vision to put forward. Simply brilliant!

Rabia G. Saddal, Lahore

Pakistan's woes

Ed,

The issue of December 28, 2007 was very good and the cover story by Kanza Tariq was outstanding. In response to "Does anyone care?" by Copper I would like to say that our standard of education is the same as it used to be in 1960, 50 years back! Also, there is lack of awareness about quality education as proper guidelines about studies and education are not provided to the youth. There is no unemployment in Pakistan, but educated and able persons are actually missing.

As far as the present political condition is concerned, it is pathetic not only in Pakistan but in the whole world. Our media is responsible for amplification of even minor issues. The thing that one pursues in life is happiness. The politician, who snatched rights of others making their lives miserable, is not at all a satisfied and happy person. The threat to his life and reputation, the fear of losing 'kursi' all makes him restless. His life is more miserable than a common man suffering from load shedding, unemployment and inflation.

Sarah Iftikhar, Islamabad

Together we stand

Hey Eddy,

It was good to see the issue of December 28, 2007. It contained some very good and entertaining articles regarding the New Year. Unfortunately, that day was marked with a very dark cloud hovering over the whole country due to the death of Benazir Bhutto. I couldn't really enjoy the magazine as I always do. In fact, I even thought that you guys should not have published it as a sign of mourning. Anyway, I would like to draw the attention of all the Pakistanis through this letter to the reaction of the Rawalpindi incident. I saw many mourners on television burning down the cars of innocent people who really did not have anything to do with the whole incident; in fact, they were equally distressed by the incident. Apart from that, many people were even doing silly things like hitting a tin can with bamboo sticks. I don't understand how a mere tin can lying in Karachi could have been the cause of the death of the great leader of Pakistan in Rawalpindi, hundreds of kilometres away? Please show some sensibility and maturity over this whole incident. There are other much less violent and more effective ways of showing your sympathy towards the kin of the late Ms. Bhutto. This not only projects a wrong image of our country all over the world but it also permanently damages the young minds of many innocent young kids who might be watching the news of the whole incident on their TVs. In the end, I would just like to advise you people by quoting Ms. Bhutto – 'Together we stand, together we fight'! The key to the eradication of terrorism is to unite against it, not harm each other!

Sarmad Amer 

Request!

Hello Ed,

How is the team Us? Well, you guys are doing a fabulous job and I love to read the mag; it's very entertaining. The poster was great in the previous issue (December 28, 2007) and the letter to the Quaid was fabulous; my mom wanted me too read it! Furthermore, the cover story on New Year was good as well. Can you print the poster of Lindsay Lohan whenever possible?  

Noor Naveed

Dear Ed,

It's been so long since I last wrote to Us. I appreciate all the efforts you put into the magazine. I know it's a hard job putting together everything and organizing the mail and the articles - it's a tough job. The thing is, your articles are good, but sometimes they convey the same moral again and again. And sometimes, I feel that the pictures you print with the text do not support it. Try to publish pictures which define your text.

Lastly, to the readers: I see that you put a lot of effort in raising your opinion, and I appreciate that. But sometimes, I guess the opinions raise a lot of eyebrows too. All I want to say is that respect each other's opinion, no matter what the topic is about. By doing this you can resolve extraordinary matters. And yes, the article 'Letter to Quaid-e-Azam' by Asim Manj was very interesting. I know things are not going the way they should. The suicides, the destruction, the corruption, the disloyality… everything. But you see, Pakistan is still standing. And you know why? Because of people who still have faith in it! That is why nothing is lost. And people like you, me, and everyone who cares, can make a difference. May Allah give us strength faith and trust; that is all we need.

Mehreen Qayas, Pindi

Us can rock, if...!

Dear Editor,

I just love your mag. It's completely awesome. I love the 'Graffiti' section a lot. I just want to give you guys a bit of advice: Improve the paper quality of the mag, then it would become more rocking. You guys are doing a great job and if you work a little harder, you can produce one of the most-read mags in Pakistan! Hope you guys take notice of this advice. Keep doing this great job.

Parnya Nadeem, Quetta

Detailed comments

Dear Editor,

I have been reading your magazine for a long time but this is my first letter to you. Formalities aside, I have written like more than 100 letters to Us, but none of them got printed. So much for all the people I know who accuse me of being among the Editor's favourite. If only I could tell about all my stuff that did not get printed simply because the Editor believes in giving everyone a chance! I also used to believe that editors favour their favourites while never recognizing that my work needs to be of a certain standard before it gets printed. I guess this would never change, so my sympathies to those whose stuff is not published. The most ridiculous comments that I read in the magazine, in this regard, is that you people do not print anything by Karachiites despite Us being based in Karachi! I mean I could live with you printing stuff of your relatives and those living in major cities but not printing anything by Karachites! That is the limit. Regarding, the December 21 issue, I would like to say that 25th December is not the precise date of birth of Jesus. It is more of a tradition to celebrate the birth of Jesus on 25th December. The exact date of Jesus' birth is arguable according to Christian scholars and religious leaders. The bakra story was nice but the writer could have done a better job with it. It certainly could have done with some more humour. :p The article 'The day Pakistan broke down' was a really good effort. Despite living in Pakistan we hardly understand why our country was divided into two. So it was very thoughtful on the writer's part. 'Who let the lights on' was interesting, but even if somebody takes the writer's advice, the reduced bill would be attributed to the persistent load shedding by everyone's parents. :p  And now it's time for some flattery like other writers, so here goes! You people are doing a great job. And please just print my stuff and forget the others. Hehehe!

Arif Iftikhar, Lahore

What more do you want?

Ed,

Well, well, looks like the fire that I started, as the title read, burned someone. But I was expecting a 3rd degree burn! I was not expecting as answer from 'just any girl'; I was expecting it from Ayesha Pervez, my inspiration. Because of her I wrote something in a magazine. Let's talk about what Fatima Ali Athar had to say. But before replying to her, I've got a question that probably all the guys would like to ask you girls: How do you know that a guy is staring at you? You know it because you look him in the eye too, eh? "I mean if you girls are so sick of getting ogled at, you'd wear a veil". Ok, I take it back, and you have raised a point, to which I would reply. Have you seen the types of burqas that girls wear nowadays? Their faces are covered, but still people can see through it the make-up on eyes. So cover your eyes too, and wear an OGLE PROOF burqa. 

Again, I will say that "All girls DO NOT get ogled at"! The ugliest of all guys would like to stare at the cutest girl around, which means that not all girls get stared at.

Yes, this world belongs to women too. Just because one guy stares at you with that "I Will Eat you" look, it doesn't mean than he represents all of us. There are a lot of decent guys out there, and yeah they are not oglers, of course they do look at pretty girls, but it's an adoring look that they give. We do respect women; after all we have them in our house in the form of mother/wife/ sister. You guys have jannat beneath your feet, what more could you have asked for? A new sandal I think.  

Jasir Jawaid