Terror vs anti-terror
It was the first attack on Elite Police training school on Bedian Road but the policemen there dealt with it better than at the other two places
By Shahzada Irfan
It was a calm Thursday morning and the routine business of life was going on at Elite Force Training School at Bedian Road, Lahore. Muhammad Younas, a Punjab police driver, perched on the driving seat of police patrolling vehicle LOK 3765, had no idea of what lied in store for him.

Andaaz apna apna
A new restaurant on Fort Road, is a blend of the new and the old
By Ali Sultan
Right as you enter Andaaz, in the dim light, on the right wall hangs a very interesting artefact. It's a framed certificate, -- it's brownish, yellow surface brittle with age -- dating back to 1945, awarded by the Bombay Drawing Examination to a certain gentleman for successfully passing the elementary grade drawing examination.

Parents of Sidra, a student of grade five studying in Sacred Heart School, situated in front of twice-attacked provincial headquarters of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Lahore, wants to change her school now. They do not want to send her to a school in a high risk area.

"She was in the school on the day when FIA office was first time rocked in 2008," Mrs Kamal, mother of Sidra, told TNS, adding, "She was mum for a week after the first attack." Now, she was again in her class last Thursday when the militants attacked the FIA building.

October 15 was another terror recap in the heart of Pakistan – Lahore – when militants who claimed to be Tehrike Taliban Pakistan, launched guerrilla attacks on the FIA provincial headquarters, Elite Police Training School at Bedian Road and Police Training School Manawan, killing as many as 30 policemen and civilians and nine attackers.

In the recent wave of attacks in the city, the terrorists simultaneously launched guerrilla attacks on the same pattern at three places in Lahore, one in the heart of the city and the other two in its outskirts. All three are far from, each other and in opposite directions. At all three points, terrorists rushed to their targets from nearby places spraying bullets indiscriminately and later they threw hand grenades for small explosions to create terror for making their way into the buildings.

FIA attack was the first one on last Thursday that happened at around 9:30 in the morning. Two FIA inspectors, two attackers and two civilians died as a result of the attack. Nearby markets of the city were closed immediately after the news of the attacks.

Asif Aslam, who sells juice at a stall at Temple Road, saw a young man in early 20s, running towards FIA building. "He was in white clothes and had four small bags on his back, belly and shoulders with bullets and a gun in his hand. He was running towards FIA building, bent forward. He was without beard. In seconds he came out from street 5 which is a few yards from FIA office and started spraying bullets. Then there was constant firing for 15 minutes and two low intensity explosions. After that I escaped from the spot believing that the FIA building has been attacked."

Another person running an eatery stall, Saleem Ahmed seconded the first observer. "The attacker was in white clothes. He came from street 5 and started spraying bullets. We escaped. Later, we heard two small explosions near FIA building."

Yawar Ahmed, another shopkeeper said, "I thought there was firing in a house. It was around 9:30. Then there was small explosion. Then firing started again. Then there was another low intensity explosion. Then there was firing which continued for at least 15 minutes. We were frightened and ran away. We came back after an hour."

Ziaullah, Assistant Sub Inspector of FIA who was deput0ed in security cell said, "I had just left the security office at the main gate as my shift was over and the inspector had reached the head office. It happened after 10 minutes after that. I heard firing at around 9:30am and rushed back. The scene was horrific. The duty inspector was dead at the spot."

The attack was predicted but no security measures were taken despite that. Even after more than a year of the first attack the FIA building remained without main gate which made the target easy for the attackers.

Security measures on the main roads of the city are very tight after these three attacks. Why these measures were not taken before when there was constant threat and fear of attacks? What did the government and the security agencies learn from the previous attacks if the same have been repeated? Are questions citizens ask.

First time terrorists hit the FIA building with a mini truck laden with heavy explosive material on March 11, 2008. There was another blast in Model Town at the same time. The first attack on Manawan was on March 29, 2009 in which terrorists entered the school through its boundary wall in broad day light from the rear side and sprayed bullets on the cadets, killing at least seven of them.

vaqargillani@gmail.com

It was peaceful Thursday morning and the routine business of life was going on in Manawan training school in Lahore as usual. More than 600 new police recruits are getting their regular training here. Muhammad Dildar, 24 years old, was one of them. He joined this school 20 days back as an under-training driver for the Punjab police. Dildar started his day as usual at 6:30 am in the morning for the first session of daily training. At 8:45 am the recruits were granted a 15 minute break for breakfast. "We were coming back to the main ground for the second training session at around 9:10 when I saw four young men clad in Elite force's black uniform scaling the front wall of the school," Dildar told TNS.

According to him three of them were clean shaven while one had beard on his face. "I thought they were police officials of elite force who were giving training how to scale the walls. But, the very next moment they hurled hand grenade towards us. I saw at least 10 police officials including an instructor fall down immediately after the attack. Then they started spraying bullets indiscriminately. It created panic among the recruits, everybody was trying to get away from the bullets. One bullet also hit my left leg and I fell down. I also saw the bearded guy saying to the other attackers, "our mission is to kill these shameless people". He was also shouting, "kill all of them."

He also saw one of the attackers blowing up his jacket. "It was the most horrible thing I have ever seen in my life. First there was a flash of light followed by a big bang and his body disappeared in seconds before me. It was spread every where," he told TNS. He, along with 25 other injured police officials of the school were admitted at Ghurki Hospital Lahore. "I am not scared of terrorists and once I recover from injuries, I will join the police force again," he said.

This is the second attack at the same police facility in seven months. The first attack took place at this training school in March this year in which eight police officials were killed while in last Thursday's attack 10 police officials were killed. The blood spots of police officials killed near the main gate of the school is still visible.

The SSP training and principle of Manawan training school told TNS that morale of the police is very high. "The terrorists had plans to make police officials hostage. We have found packs of food and water enough for at least three day from body of one of the assailants. Two out of the three terrorists were trying to get into the main building when one of the army trainer deputed at Manawan to train police recruits targeted one of them with his gun. He exploded his jacket after getting injured and the splinters also hit his second fellow, killing him as well," he said.

The attackers succeeded in getting into the building a second time in one year because of the low boundary wall of the school. They succeeded in doing much damage to Manawan School because its campus does not have enough depth. The main building is just 60-70 meters from the main road. The SSP told TNS 120 police officials were deputed to guard the school and because of their retaliation the assailants were forced to blow them up.

The police officials seem very confident though, resolute to fight this war on terror. Many residents living close to the training school, think otherwise. "The police training school has made the whole area vulnerable to terrorist attacks. We have still not forgotten the dreadful terrorist attack of March and now this has happened. It was also very frightening first there was at least four blasts followed by hundreds of bullets and then finally there were at least two big bangs," says Muhammad Safdar, a tea stall owner near the police school. He said they were at least four in number and came in Bolan. "They all were young. First, they had a meeting for five minutes in front of school and then suddenly two of them opened fire at the main gate of the school while two scaled the wall, the other two also did the same after one or two minutes," he said that police should tighten the security at its installations. "Its better to move them away from thickly populated areas".

Rickshaw is still the most popular mode of transportation, it is not wrong if we call it "The king of roads". It is true that of all forms of labour, rickshaw has attracted the most attention.

I have never seen a group of people denied a rickshaw ride just because of their numbers. It can fit them all including luggage. The rickshaws normally seem fit for one or maximum two passengers, I often saw entire families parents with four or five kids riding one. If you thought the passengers could not carry much luggage with them on the rickshaw, think again. Not only do they take their handbags full of different grocery items, they also carry heavier goods like TV sets, furniture and sewing machines. Many a times one can see a family chilling out in the passenger cabin while their younger ones share seat with the driver. If a rickshaw picks up passengers from a railway station, luggage is easily placed in driver's cabin. On a closer look, these rickshaws make you think about the strength and the misery behind them.

A rickshaw is immaculately designed to keep a driver relaxed during long hours. This has been accomplished by limiting the driving controls to both hands and a leg only. This keeps one leg of the driver free which he can dangle around when tired. Many of us must have seen the common practice where a tired driver lifts one of his legs and conveniently places it on top of the dash-board while still driving the rickshaw. Rickshaw comes with a single headlamp. The light from this headlamp does make people see that something is coming but wonder how a rickshaw driver sees in such dim light. It reminds one constantly of Elton John's song 'candle in the wind'.

A rickshaw driver usually adorns his rickshaw with a multiple array of reflective mirrors. These mirrors are placed by the driver to his own strategic advantage. If a passenger is to his liking then these mirrors help the driver keep an eye on the passenger from many different angles. And this is sometimes very irritating for the female passengers.

A passenger cannot just walk into an empty rickshaw and sit. He/she has to take the driver's permission first. The magic question to ask is "Is rickshaw empty?" (rickshaw khali hai?). This question must be asked even if a rickshaw is visibly empty because depending on his mood a driver at anytime may declare a visibly empty rickshaw as occupied. Then there is no question of arguing. Rickshaw drivers have also mastered the sign language. If a rickshaw is empty then instead of saying 'yes' a driver usually moves his neck towards the passenger cabin in a long swooshing motion. This means rickshaw is empty. Please get in.

Rickshaws are also a mirror of our society. Rickshaw drivers use back of the rickshaw as their scrap book which sometimes seems very funny and interesting. It displays their favourite poetry, puzzling questions, messages to other drivers, etc. I don't remember seeing a rickshaw without anything written on its back. Some of these comments are a running commentary on our society. Take a look at five sample rickshaw messages:

mein bara ho kar Corolla banoon ga

malik ki gaari, driver ka paseena

chalti hai road par bun kay haseena

kabhi aao na Lahore, khashbo laga ke

Daalar ki talaash

uff baji, rickshaw gayee

Maa kee dua ….. jannat kee hawa

Baap kee dua …… chal beta rickshaw chala ".

And my personal favourite…'tussi lang jao, saadi khair ayy'. Which roughly translates into 'you can overtake me, I'll be fine'.

In Lahore I have seen quite a bit of humour in how the rickshaw drivers speak. Once I asked a rickshaw driver how much will you take for a certain place? And his reply was "waise tu 100 bante hain lakin aap ke ikhlaq se mutasir ho ke 90 le loon ga".

And I had shown no ikhlaq so far, just a plain question in monotone.

Also, if you ask how much is the fare for a certain place, the first sentence you will surely hear is "jo jaiz ho" (whatever is reasonable).No matter what, they start the negotiation with that time-honoured phrase. Also they invariably call the men as bhaijan and ladies as baji ji no matter what the age of the driver or the person addressed as opposed to the tanga walas (when they existed, and yes I do remember their times) who always addressed the ladies as "Bibi.

Lahore is flooded with rickshaws and although it seems to be an eye-sore at times, it is easy to forget how it keeps less fortunate employed, it is a great form of affordable transportation. The rickshaw has become a symbol of Lahore.

Diwali function on Sat, Oct 17 at Sir Ganga Ram Heritage Foundation, Lahore.

WAXING LYRICAL: Exhibition & Workshops of Indonesian Batik & Pakistani & Indonesian Calligraphy & Calligraph-art at Alhamra Arts Council, The Mall on Mon &Tue, Oct 19-20 from 5-7:30pm.

Play: 'Raja Rasalu' by Ajoka at Alhamra Hall 2, The Mall till Mon, Oct 19. The play is written & directed by Malik Aslam. The play will start at 7:30pm.

22nd Asian Pacific Weed Science Conference at Government College University Lahore from Mon, Oct 19 to Fri, Oct 23.

Sh'er Ki Baat: Understanding Faiz's poetry. Dr. Arfa Syeda will speak at Faiz Ghar Model Town on Wed, Oct 21 from 5 to 6 pm.

Dialogue: Leaf will hold a discourse session on "Punjab Aur Pakistan- Tareekhi Silsalay" with Dr. Imran Ali on Thu, Oct 22 at 5:15pm at Model Town Library Auditorium.

Exhibition of Paintings by Faiza Butt opened on Oct 7 at Rohtas Gallery and will continue till Oct 20.

Exhibition of works by Khadim Ali at Rohtas Gallery.

"Until the advent of television emptied the movie theatres, it was from a weekly visit to the cinema that you learned (or tried to learn) how to strut, to smoke, to kiss, to fight, to grieve. Movies gave you tips about how to be attractive, such as… it looks good to wear a raincoat even when it isn't raining" -- Susan Sontag in A Century of Cinema.

In a similar way, the advent of photography has taught us how to look at paintings and other forms of visual art. After the advent of a small gadget called camera, which records reality with precision, artists are expected to provide something extra: like their feelings, emotions or responses to the outside world. In his essay on the portrait painting, John Berger writes about the idea of rendering the inner-self in portraits, a concept introduced after the camera made accurate, quick and inexpensive portraits possible.

The introduction of spiritual and psychological elements in art of portrait, allegedly caused by the invention of camera, has also affected the practice of photography -- because with the apparent ease to document the visual world, a photographer seeks to communicate something extra. And in a paradoxical manner, he/she relies on reality in order to convey an entity beyond mere optical experience. In some cases, it is the juxtaposition of colours, effect of light or selection of a scene that evokes deeper feeling among spectators.

In the recently-held exhibition of photography, titled 'Timescapes', at Alhamra Art Galleries, one finds the artists' urge to create visuals that can transcend reality. Take the works of Rabia Ezdi, where scenes from our familiar surroundings -- seas, beaches and verandas with red bricks -- are presented in an unusual manner. Ezdi not only focuses on the details, but her angle to view her subject is interesting, unique and uncanny. Seen as close ups or from the top, her subjects turn into visuals that even though representing reality suggest abstract elements of pictorial art, such as harmony, pattern and rhythm. A pole in the mid of water and a child sitting around the red brick floor affirm the artist's ability to transform everyday existence into art.

Similarly, Imran Nafees Siddiqui's black and white photos of clothes pegs appear to be attempts to convert a tiny, insignificant yet functional object into a visual form that has some poetic dimension. In fact clothes peg appears to be replacing human beings due to their enlarged scale and placement. His interest in substituting things with humans is evident in his other photographs as well.

The third participant of the exhibition – with a large body of exhibits and a small catalogue to his credit -- is Hassan Altaf Saleem. His photographs signify the level of interest and ambition as he shifts his attention from faces to landscape, nature and urban subjects. A big picture of the wall from a historic monument (perhaps Jehangir's Tomb or Lahore Fort) titled 'Writing on the Wall' indicates the artist's inclination for finding suitable motif in his surroundings. His method of presenting these as artworks, not through clicking a camera or by putting prints in a gallery space, but by locating visual and conceptual elements in most of his prints. For example, in a group of three photos of a book in difference stages of being closed is remarkable in terms of sharing the normal experience in an extraordinary way/language. In another set of prints, he depicts decorations on vehicles by selecting the painted parts only. Thus, by doing so, he asserts the often neglected aspect of functional products in his photographs.

Amid rows of usual subjects such as moon, clouds, candle flame and enlarged buds, Saleem manages to place a number of unexpected imagery as well as a different scheme of display that impresses visitors. For instance, the image of railway track is split in two halves and displayed with a small gap in between. This format of display enhances the actuality of the visuals because by looking at the two frames of two edges of tracks placed side by side, it transposes us into a state where he or she is actually gazing at the real tracks in an open field. This ability to attend to small but significant details turns his pictures into a delightful, aesthetic experience.

It was a calm Thursday morning and the routine business of life was going on at Elite Force Training School at Bedian Road, Lahore. Muhammad Younas, a Punjab police driver, perched on the driving seat of police patrolling vehicle LOK 3765, had no idea of what lied in store for him.

Younas was patrolling the road along the boundary walls and the main gate of the facility. There were armed elite force personnel sitting in the rear of the vehicle, least expecting a frontal attack from a bunch of trigger-happy terrorists.

Around 9.30 a.m, two armed terrorists opened fire on the vehicle. The cops retaliated from the rear and shot one of the assailants, who blew himself up in a nearby field apparently in a bid to avoid arrest. The other attacker was shot in the neck and he died instantly. The merciless bullet didn't give him enough time to blow himself up and he fell face-down on the muddy patch outside the school.

Moments after his fall, and after observing the motionless body for a while, some cops walked forward and carefully removed the suicide jacket tied around the attacker's waist.

Apparently it seemed the attack had been foiled right at its outset. But the triumphant cops were not aware of the fact that five more attackers were scaling the sidewalls of the school, yards away from the place of the initial combat.

In words of a police official, the terrorists had followed this strategy to divert the attention and energies of security guards towards the main gate. "While everybody ran towards the main gate, some terrorists made entry into the facility without facing any resistance," he said.

The same official who wanted to hide his name said the whole operation was conducted by the police force alone. He said the Rangers and Army did join them but the situation was very much under control by then.

The attack at Bedian training school was different from the ones at the FIA building and Manawan school in a way that this facility had not been attacked earlier. Besides it was the prime target of Lahore attacks. The investigators have reached a conclusion that the other two attacks were carried out and timed in a way to keep forces away from the Bedian facility.

Quite ironically, the preparedness of Bedian school inmates to counter an armed attack was much better than the other two places that had experienced it in the past.

The terrorists who had entered the premises killed an Assistant Sub Inspector, Jafar, who was a paramedic and was not authorized to carry a weapon. A labourer involved in construction work inside the colony was the next casualty.

Fortunately, the attackers could not cover the expanse of the sprawling facility and were confined to the structures built close to the boundary walls. This stopped them from taking any other life and they died one by one.

SP Lahore Cantt, Azfar Mahesar, tells TNS the main target of the attackers was the central facility that housed around 1200 personnel. On their failure to reach this facility, they entered the family quarters close to the boundary wall but couldn't take anybody hostage, he said.

Muhammad Ramzan alias Jana, 45, runs a meat shop less than 100 metres from the main gate of the school. He tells TNS the whole action started after he heard a deafening blast. He said he did not hear any bullet fire before the blast. What followed was a crossfire that continued for 45 minutes, he said.

Ramzan said the whole area was cordoned off instantly and all the people could see was an endless convoy of vehicles carrying armed personnel entering and surrounded the school.

He said a bullet hit the shop right opposite to his. The sound he said was different from what he would often hear in the morning when recruits emptied their gun barrels in firing ranges. "Instead of running for life, I sprang up from my seat and secured the carcasses hanging there," he said.

Ahmed Raza, 35, is an Elite Force constable. TNS talked to him as he emerged from the front gate of the school. He was barefooted and carrying his shoes in his one hand and his gun in the other. In a husky voice he said he had seen the attackers fondle their suicide jackets and blow themselves up, right in front of his eyes.

The sight of the young attackers, clad in black shalwar kameez, transforming into fire balls and then charred rags was haunting him at that moment.

Syed Zaheer Ahmed, who runs a welfare hospital right opposite to the centre, tells TNS he was allowed to go inside the facility during the operation. "Our ambulances were the first to enter the place to pick the dead bodies and take the injured out."

Ahmed said there were rumours of some women terrorists being involved in the attack there but this could not be established.

Right as you enter Andaaz, in the dim light, on the right wall hangs a very interesting artefact. It's a framed certificate, -- it's brownish, yellow surface brittle with age -- dating back to 1945, awarded by the Bombay Drawing Examination to a certain gentleman for successfully passing the elementary grade drawing examination.

The point is that Andaaz Restaurant, which opened this May, is a perfect blend of the old and the new.

Situated on Fort Road, right across the road from the Badshahi Masjid, Andaaz is the brainchild of Adnan Cheema, a burly, cheerful man, who juggles between being the owner and the head chef. Cheema, an NCA graduate in graphic design, always had a thing for cooking and in 1999 went off to the Florida Culinary Institute to learn how to cook. "The concept of Andaaz is that it's a journey for the food lover," says Cheema, all smiles.

The fun part is that it is. As you climb up the stairs of the old building that Andaaz is housed in at night -- the restaurant opens at 8:00 pm and closes by 2:00 am -- and enter its rooftop, the main dining area, you are stunned, not only by the magnificent sight of the Badshahi Masjid, in all its glory, on the right but by the fact that all the waiters are waitresses, dressed in black and always smiling. It's a pleasant surprise. A colourful counter, made with brick and wood panelling, decorated with Pakistani truck metal parts is on the left. You will be seated in dark wooden chairs and a wood table and a large magic lantern with a small candle will be placed in front of you. As the music purrs behind you, a mixture of jazz and Indian instrumentals, appetizer is served which is a bowl of small paparrs with different assortment of sauces. The pappars are warm and crisp and the sauces hot and spicy.

Andaaz specializes in subcontinental dishes, and jazzes things up by also serving an alternative menu that serves one ethnic palette --this time it was Parsi -- that changes every two weeks.

Our menu of choice, with a little help from the Zarqa Bajwa, the manager was Malai Boti, Chutney Gosht, Badami Kabab and a Parsi dish made with prawns.

When our food was ready, which took a while; it was served in old tamba bowls, the first servings personally served by the staff. The Malai Boti were large in size, tasty but a little over-cooked. The Badami Kabab was nicely done, and you could just feel the slight taste of almonds in the mouth, not at all empowering. The most interesting were the Chutney Gosht and the Parsi prawns. The Chutney Gosht was finally minced mutton, and surprisingly sweet in taste with a very spicy kick that comes right at the end. It wouldn't be recommended to have it as the main course, but everyone should try it out at last once. The Parsi prawns were scrumptious, king sized prawns cooked in sweet coriander sauce. The sweetness of the sauce cut through the salt of the prawns to make it a very exciting dish. To finish off things, we had the Kulfa which was delicious, cool and just the right amount of sweet and tea which was just right.

Andaaz has three eating areas, a spacious room while coming up the stairs, the rooftop that serves as the main dining area and a wonderful smaller rooftop that is also a mini garden where you can eat and enjoy a sheesha or two. The management is also in the process of opening a Chai Khana on the ground floor that hopes to incorporate old film and other memorabilia as its design.

Andaaz is a wonderful place to dine out at, its ambience is bewitching, its food sumptuous and preapared by its own chefs, but only for those who have a heavy pocket.