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dispute Smoke behind the screen One of Lahore’s favourite haunts, DHA cinema, is closed now for more than a month. But why exactly? By Waqar Gillani A recent visit to the DHA cinema in the R Block of the posh housing locality was a disappointment as the cinema was closed. A guard on the gate said the closure was temporary. A little bit of investigation and one heard rumours about a conflict between the cinema management and the DHA administration and the latter’s reluctance over the renewal of the contract. moodstreet Town
Talk history “Negligible
budget and lack of scientific culture mars us”
dispute Smoke behind the screen One of Lahore’s favourite haunts, DHA cinema, is closed now for more than a month. But why exactly? By Waqar Gillani A recent visit to the DHA cinema in the R Block of the posh housing locality was a disappointment as the cinema was closed. A guard on the gate said the closure was temporary. A little bit of investigation and one heard rumours about a conflict between the cinema management and the DHA administration and the latter’s reluctance over the renewal of the contract. To be exact, the cinema
was closed on October 27, 2011, apparently for ‘security reasons’. It
was all set to screen 3D shows from November according to the plan which
was announced last August. After the sudden closure, the management
company running the cinema has taken that matter to a court of law. DHA cinema started its operations about five years ago by converting a school auditorium into a cinema hall. The Mandviwala Entertainment Company developed it into a reasonable hall under an agreement with the DHA and has been running it on profit-sharing basis for the past five years. Having an entertainment facility in a locality where the privileged class lives, and providing a decent and secure environment, the place became quite popular in a matter of months. After the cinema’s closure over what clearly looks like a dispute, a public notice displayed on the DHA cinema website (www.dhacinema .com), a site run by the management company, reads: “DHA management personnel have now taken the responsibility of sealing the DHA cinema till November 30, 2011 in complete violation and disregard of the orders of the honourable Civil Court, Lahore under the pretext of ‘security reasons’. It is thus appropriate for all our valued customers who had bought tickets from the cinema and are waiting for a refund to call or write to the secretary DHA office. We profoundly apologise and regret the inconvenience caused to all our patrons.” The management company has also moved a contempt of court on DHA’s failure to de-seal the cinema in accordance with an earlier stay order by the court. The company has also challenged an advertisement placed by the DHA a month ago inviting bids for management of the cinema for a period of two years. DHA Security Deputy Director, Major (Retd) Khalid Javed, who also appeared before the court on the last hearing, tells TNS the cinema was closed owing to serious security threats. “We had been receiving threats from time to time and the cinema was closed in the past too for some days,” he says, adding, “We deal with security only and we don’t know about the conflicts or contract renewal.” DHA Acting Secretary Colonel (Retd) Adil Jahan, talking to TNS, denied any controversy, saying the cinema was closed only because of security concerns. “I don’t know about other matters and if a new contract is issued to any party it will be transparent and public.” On the other hand, the
Mandviwala Company has told the court that its agreement with the DHA for
management of the cinema, signed on November 15, 2006, for a
five-year-term, was effective till November 15, 2011. It said that the
advertisement was published in violation of Clause 5 of the agreement.
Under the clause, such proposals could be invited by the DHA only after
both parties failed to agree on extending the agreement for another term,
on mutually acceptable terms. The company thinks that the fresh bidding for the contract creates an impression that the management has failed to manage the cinema which can cause irreparable loss to its reputation. The petitioner had requested the court to direct the DHA administration to extend the agreement for another five years on already agreed terms and conditions. Nadeem Mandviwala, chief executive of the management company, deems the closure of the cinema on the pretext of security as an excuse for not renewing the contract of his company. Telling his side of the story, Mandviwala says that according to the contract their first five years term ended on November 15, a couple of weeks ago. “It is clearly written in the contract that the agreement is extendable for the next five years by the DHA administration,” he says, adding, “Now, the DHA first said that it may be extendable and then they refused to extend it forcing us to move the court.” He says this shows that the DHA never had any intention to follow the contract renewal terms. “Obviously, this is their cinema and we developed it under a contract as a company and ran it on profit-sharing basis, but our point made in the court is that they should not violate the sanctity of the contract and continue with the understanding.” “They can give this contract to any other person or company in future but if they do it by violating an agreement this is not a healthy sign,” he argues. The tussle between the DHA and the Mandviwala Company is on while the people, looking for healthy entertainment, are deprived of their favourite place. “Whether this is security concern or a contract renewal fight, we want the cinema to screen films and provide entertainment to the people in this depressing and frustrating atmosphere of the country,” says Amina Ali, a regular cinema-goer. vaqargillani@gmail.com
I have been asked many times over the last one week, and by a motley of people, friends mostly, as to why I wasn’t writing anymore? Frankly, it’s not just writing, I’m not even reading. Well, what could I say to this except that, probably, I am suffering from a writer’s as well as a reader’s block? Though nobody wanted to believe it, but that’s how it is. All great people have at least once in their lifetime come to a point where their mind refuses to accept any information or knowledge, and even if it does, it refuses to take and create any impression out of it. Not that I, by any wildest chance, belong to that illustrious category of writers but I can identify with them. Generally, when singers are asked to hum a few words from their songs, they almost always come up with the excuse ‘gala kharab hai’, but I have never seen a poet or a writer ever falling short of such a demand if it is ever made of them to narrate something of their work. But that is as far as it goes. When a person who is capable of writing ‘creatively’ is badgered to write, somehow, that’s exactly the point where the ‘writer’s block’ syndrome kicks in. It’s like asking the ostrich to fly because you see something similar to wings on its back. Interestingly, a
writer’s mind is like wild flora; it blossoms unbidden. This is the point that many people refuse to understand. Especially the genus which calls itself ‘teachers’, and to narrow the issue down to specifics, the Language teachers are the least sympathetic to this problem. They always expect the student to come up with something creative for any trashy topic that they might come up with. For instance, imagine a child of 15 beset with the task of writing a 400 words essay on ‘Good Manners.’ Atrocious, isn’t it? 400 words on something that is both clichéd and extinct, and then when the students are unable to come up with something that meets the teacher’s expectations as well as the word limit, they are in for detentions. This world is clearly the most unfair to the aesthetes. P. B. Shelley believed that aesthetes (in his case, poets) are the ‘bards’ of any generation, prophet-like people. Prophets and seers have been known to give prophesies only when they were least sought out. When they were unnecessarily pushed, they either rebuked or cursed, hence, bringing nations and generations to ruin. Those of you, who are thinking of contradicting this statement by the Greek myths, forget the Oracle at Delphi; it has been proven as sham, plus it was a myth. So my point is that it is only now that I understand the dilemma that authors confront in the name of writer’s block. One of my friends, and a good writer too, claims that the ‘writer’s block’ is only a state of mind, and that this state of mind only sets in those minds which refuse to budge because they are residing in the skulls of slothful people. I beg to differ, on this point of information, that along with slothful people, it is the mind that is sluggish too. Another thing that amazes me in this bizarre world is that how do people – and there are many, believe me – who manage to churn out ‘creative’ ideas all the time. And to cap it all, they have such a wonderful knack of presenting their work with an entirely new perspective each time it gets to the readers. Kudos to them! My wild guess is that they use the 10 percent of their minds which made Einstein the man that he was: genius! I am not amazed at the churning out effect; instead I am more interested to know how people come up with something to talk about every week when all I can appreciate is a dearth of ideas? The issues around us — in society, in the country — have become so stagnant, and they have been talked about in so many similar ways that they have lost their significance. Apparently, ‘writer’s block’ is not everyone’s problem.
*Open Mic night at
Institute for Peace and Secular Studies (IPSS) on Wednesday at 6:00 pm
where people share not only academic and intellectual *New Works by Khalil Chishti at Rohtas 2 Gallery till Dec 17. Khalil is a New York based Pakistani artist dominantly working with sheer plastics to construct figurative installations. *Works by Amna Gull, Ramana at Gallery 39K till Dec 13. *Commemoration of Patras´s death anniversary.Talk on Faiz and Patras at Government College Bokhari Auditorium on Mon, Dec 12 at 3:00 pm. *Exhibition at Grey Noise of Bani Abidi’s works in collaboration with Green Cardamom, London till Jan 13. Gallery timings: 5pm-9pm. *Weekend Cycle Ride to start from Neela Gumbad parking lot today at 10:30am.
history Multan Road is a nightmare for commuters. Cross the Samnabad Chowk, the road gets denser as more serious shops emerge on both sides. After just a few meters of a jungle of shops and parked cars, there is an iron gate, a little behind what is understood to be the threshold of the road now. As one looks inside, one
notices a big Banyan tree and a petit bricked Mughal style edifice. I
would have thought the building was some sort of a Hindu temple, had it
not been a board put up by the Archaeology Department of Pakistan, “Tomb
of Zeb-un-Nisa”. This is a relatively small edifice, definitely not
suiting the protocol of a princess. It stands on a plinth. Towards the
right are the remains of another building, part of the edifice. It
contains all sorts of junk. There is a shop operating within the close
parameters of the complex, definitely not part of it historically. Zeb-un-Nisa was the daughter of the last real Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb. She is one of those few Mughal princesses who have been able to record their names in history, not only as a docile princess, as most of the Mughal ladies were, but as a romantic poetess. She wrote at that time when the Mughal ladies were not allowed to do anything, meet anybody and be accompanied by anybody else except eunchs. She is wrongly famed to be the one who summoned the famous Chauburji Bagh. She was a great scholar though who would always be remembered for her contributions in poetry. She wrote the book Diwan-i-Maqfi. She epitomises the romantic image of the imprisoned princess, who expresses her helplessness and emptiness in poetry. As much as the people of Lahore would like to believe, this tomb does not belong to the tragic princess. This confusion emerges primarily because this tomb was present at the Garden of Zeb-un-Nisa. Who does this tomb belong to, we cannot clearly establish, but there is no doubt that this is a Mughal period construction. Maybe this tomb belongs to one of the servants of Zeb-un-Nisa. It could also be Mian Dai, the famous wet-nurse of the princess. Right now it is only a conjecture. However, as time went by this tomb became famous as the tomb of Zeb-un-Nisa. So powerful is the force behind this myth that a board now stands here sanctioned by the Government of Pakistan stating that the tomb belongs to her. Historians agree that by
the order of Emperor Aurangzeb, the Princess was buried in the Se Hazari
Bagh near the Lal Qila in Delhi. Originally this Bagh belonged to Jahan
Ara, Aurangzeb’s sister, but when Aurangzeb ascended the throne he
bestowed it upon his eldest daughter, Zeb-un-Nisa. It is reported that
when the Princess died Aurangzeb was busy fighting in Deccan. He was
informed about the death of his daughter there. In the book,
Masar-e-Alamgiri, written by the royal scribe of that time, the writer
pens down the response of the King, when he heard about the death of his
daughter. He says that the King was under so much distress that he burst
into tears, and lost control over his body. He ordered a lot of money to
be distributed among the poor in her memory. It was also decreed that her
tomb be constructed at Se Hazari in Delhi. This letter was written in
1707. In his book Ansarul Sanadeed Sir Syed Ahmad Khan notes that when the British had to lay down the Rajputana Delhi railway line, they razed the tomb of Zeb-un-Nisa outside of the Kabuli Darwaza, as it was falling on the track. This is also confirmed by Bell, an officer of the British Railways. Zeb-un-Nisa was the favourite daughter of the King and he always kept her in his company. It is reported that when she came of age Aurangzeb wanted to marry her off but Zeb-un-Nisa being the rebel that she was, only agreed to marry somebody whom she had seen and approved first. Aurangzeb could not turn down the wish of his favourite child. He sent her portraits of various generals from his army, but she rejected all of them.
When Akil Khan heard of what had happened he too repudiated everything. He came to Lahore as a fakir and reached the Garden of Nawa Kot. There he started living in a poor state and started eating from the langar that the Princess provided at the garden. The tradition at the langar was such that whoever wanted to eat something he would write it on a piece of paper and the royal cooks would prepare that. Akil Khan wrote a couplet on a piece of paper and it reached Zeb-un-Nisa who immediately understood that it was her beloved who had come to her Garden. There is also a tradition that when Zeb-un-Nisa was constructing her garden, Akil Khan used to come there and work as a labourer. Zeb-un-Nisa insisted that he should leave, however, he refused to leave the Garden. These are all part of the local tradition whose authenticity can be easily challenged. The truth is that during the tenure of Akbar there were three people called Fatehullah Shirazi, Hakeem Gillani, and Talib Amli, who were all educated. They had a sister by the name of Sunny Khanam. She was a teacher of Jahan Ara. As she did not have any children of her own, she adopted two daughters of her brother, Talib Alim. One of these girls was married to a person called Akil Khan. The wife of Akil Khan died in 1050 AH. On the other hand Zeb-un-Nisa was born in 1048 AH. From these dates we can infer that there was a considerable age difference between Akil Khan and Zeb-un-Nisa, such that they could not have been romantic lovers, like the ones portrayed in the folk tales. There is no doubt denying the fact that people had always perceived Zub-un-Nisa as a romantic tragic character, therefore her personality was fertile for a forlorn story of an unfulfilled love. Zeb-un-Nisa never got married which could have been another reason why people came up with such stories to explain why she didn’t marry.
“Negligible
budget and lack of scientific culture mars us” Pakistan Council for Science & Industrial Research (PCSIR) was established in 1953 to promote the cause of science and technology in the country. There are five laboratories of the PCSIR, one in each province and a fifth one in Skardu. 767 scientists or technologists are working in different laboratories supported by 742 skilled workers and 1096 administrative staff. Its scientists and technologists boast of having more than 500 processes; many of these are into commercial production. Over 100 processes have been transferred to industry and 3500 research publications in journals of national and international standing have also been published. The laboratories are assisting academic institutions by providing facilities to their M.Sc. M.Phil and Ph.D students. The News on Sunday talks to Director General PCSIR Centre Punjab Dr. Shahzad Alam. The News Sunday: What is
the function of PCSIR and what exactly are its contributions? Dr Shahzad Alam: PCSIR’s main function is optimum utilisation of indigenous raw material resources for the development of industrial process, development of technologies around local resources from bench to pilot plant stage, and leasing them out for industrial exploitation leading to import substitution and export enhancement. Also to conduct research on the problems faced by the industrial sector, provision of analysis and calibration services to industrial sector and assistance to academic institutions through seminars, workshops and publications. We also undertake cooperative research with local and foreign R&D organisations and industrial projects of national & mutual interest. Some major projects which PCSIR has completed are establishment of cast metals and foundry technology centre at Daska, development of electro medical equipment, their commercialisation and creating facilities for performance test. There are successful projects in Islamabad and other provinces but making artificial bone is one of our major achievements. TNS: What special product development exercises have been carried out in the recent past jointly by the industry and PCSIR? SA: PCSIR has an important role in human resource development through organised training courses. It provides manpower to industry and research centres. Our ISO certifications are recognised all over the world. PCSIR is the only lab of Pakistan which works on R&D for equipment facility. We have established institutions which are proving beneficial for industries and academies of our country and this is directly impacting our national economy. Our main purpose is to boost industrial production at low cost and high quality by solving problems in the industries. TNS: What hurdles does PCSIR face in fulfilling its objectives? SA: PCSIR is meeting all its expenses itself except for the salary of the staff. Scientists and engineers in PCSIR are contributing without any research allowance while Atomic Energy Commission, Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) and the other research organisations are enjoying Standard Procurement Systems (SPS) with other incentives. TNS: How can Pakistani students be motivated to go for research in science? SA: There is need for human resource development through higher education and training abroad as well as providing research guidance to students here for the award of B.E/ M.Sc/ M.Phil/ PhD degrees, technical training of skilled manpower through short term and 3-4 year diploma courses for industry and research centres to broaden the base of science and technology in the country. Research scientists need congenial atmosphere for research and development. TNS: We have heard that PCSIR developed herbal sprays and medicines for dengue. It never came in the market nor did you ever advertise the products. Why? SA: PCSIR has prepared mosquito repellant with fruit seeds and herbal syrup for dengue fever patients which are very effective. Both medicines were distributed free of cost in different hospitals. Another product is a low-cost spray to keep mosquitoes away. We distributed these three items in all the city hospitals free of cost and the results were excellent. Some private company has to invest in the production of these products to produce them at large scale. Besides this, I want to draw the attention of the government towards wastage of sweet water which should be saved for drinking only. Sweet water is being used for taking bath, laundry, washing vehicles and watering plants. I have suggested the government to establish water treatment plants in which dirty water would be purified so that we can save our sweet water. Then I have also given a plan of producing ‘energy’ through solid waste the city generates on daily basis. But there is no response so far from anywhere. Do you know that Vietnam is the smallest country of the world which is fulfilling its energy requirements through solid waste. TNS: Why is Pakistan lagging behind in scientific research? SA: Negligible budget, lack of scientific culture; of incentives to employees; of international market values; of expertise; of repair and maintenance budget required for scientific equipment and lack of privileges are some of the reasons why Pakistan is lagging behind in scientific research. stariqiqbal@gmail.com |
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works like essays, papers, articles, poetry and others; but also other
talents like songs, music compositions and monologues. Its a weekly event.
According
to a folktale, Akil Khan, the Governor of Multan, was in love with the
princess and was able to send his portrait to her. Immediately, the
Princess agreed to marry him. When Aurangzeb heard of what had happened he
refused to marry his daughter to Akil Khan. In protest Zeb-un-Nisa refused
to marry but Akil Khan. She gave away all her royal privileges and
commenced living a life of simplicity. She became religious and generously
distributed charity at the Garden of Nawa Kot, of which this tomb was
eventually to be a part of.
