Shadow 's death saddens everyone

We brought him home when he was a one month old puppy. He was all black. The brown colour on his legs had not appeared yet. It was February and nights were shivering cold. I had put his cage in the tv lounge. It was his first night away from his parents and siblings.

One month old swag

His mother and father were German shepherds and the size of their clutch was 6. Missing his parents and siblings, he started barking at odd hours of the night. Our TV lounge has doors to all the rooms on the ground floor. Sensing how uncomfortable the sleep would be for the family, I brought him upstairs in my study room. He inspected my room and liked it. When he had gotten tried of roaming in the room and sniffing books lying on the floor, he nestled between my feet. I went to my bed and he came and again slept with my black shoes. It dawned on me that he is missing his siblings and mistaking my shoes as his other puppies. I felt cruel for separating him from his family so early. I kept my shoes in his cage and he slept peacefully whole night.

Since he had not spent much time with other puppies, he developed a habit of biting us. The puppies which spend first three months with the parents and clutch, learn it by instinct that biting is not a good behavior. When he bites other puppies, they make a displeasuring bark, telling the biting puppy that this is not a good behavior. We solved the problem by making a short high pitched cry noise whenever it tried to bite us. He forgot the habit quite soon.

Bonding!

We named him Shadow the next day. He became the best friend and play mate of the children in the family. My son Shafay would go and check on him many times during the day. In the evening we would unleash Shadow and he would happily chase the kids for hours. He also liked the kids more than the adults, because the former would sneak toffees, candies and biscuits to him.

My younger brother Moid was his keeper. He remained like a dotting owner. Giving him food in the morning and evening and often giving him an afternoon snack. 

After becoming part of every family moment during last 6 months. Shadow breathed his last on 10th July 2017. He stopped eating and our folk pet wisdom suspected that its because of very warm weather. We took him to a vet, then admitted him in a veterinary hospital, gave him saline drips, but he died. Shadow’s death brought a shadow of sadness on the whole family and the kids stopped playing in the lawn in the evening.

Weeks before his death!

PS: The parvo virus is preventable. Prima Dog is the name of vaccine which is available in Pakistan. We gave him one dose when he was 3 months old, but were not advised to give another dose. The second dose could have saved his life. Symptoms of parvo are that dog looses appetite, develops diarrhea with blood. 

Baikal MP442 Makarov review

Baikal MP442 is perhaps the best concealed carry weapon available in Pakistan. Having Russian origin, it's design has the history of reliability and ruggedness. The gun is available in two versions: one accomodates single stack magazine housing 8 rounds and second accomodates double stack magazine with the capacity of 12 rounds.

12-round vs 8-round version:
As I was looking for a conceal carry weapon, I opted for the 8-round version because it's dimensions are equal to Makarov PM (the official sidearm of Russian army). The 12-rounder is wider and longer than the 8-round model.

Baikal MP 442 comes in a plastic box. The package contains one gun, two magazines, one cleaning rod and a user's manual.

Specifications:
Cartridge: 9mm*18mm (9mm Makarov)
Action: Single action/ double action.
Safety: One safety button on the left side of the slide does three functions (Blocks firing pin, decocks the hammer, and locks the slide and the trigger)
Dimensions: 161x127x30.5 (mm)
Barrel length: 93.5 mm
Sights: Fixed
Weight: 0.73gms
Operation: Blow back

Upon unboxing, the controls were found to be a bit stiff. The safety was really hard to move and double action was not working at all. The hammer would go rearward but would not break. I did the complete dis-assembly of the gun, cleaned the factory lubricant and oiled the gun lightly. I assisted the rearward motion of the hammer with my thumb a couple of times and it was breaking crisp. The built quality is very strong, the bluing was good, and the plastic grip is below average.

I have a habit of dis-assembling my gun to bits. It has three benefits.

1. You understand how your gun works, 
2. You get to appreciate the design and manufacturing of the internal parts. 
3. And you always learn new things.

The dis-assembly is so easy that even a child would do that.
Like all Russian guns, Baikal MP442 has an exceptional design.
The gun has very few parts. Of which two pronged leaf spring is most amazing. The spring has three purposes: it gives support to trigger, hammer and serves as a catch for magazine. I told my friend about the amazing spring design and he joked,

"Had the gun inventor consumed one bottle less than his daily dose of vodka, he would have found a way to use the leaf spring for managing recoil as well."

 The magazines have thumb loading notches on them to ease the ammunition loading. The gun is as small and as accurate as a conceal carry gun should be. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to have a good conceal carry gun in a decent price.

Are .22 rifles worth their price in Pakistan

I wanted my younger brothers (9 years old) to graduate from their BB guns to something with gun powder. The only available option in Pakistan is a .22 bolt action rifle. Instead of buying a rifle and teaching them, I deemed it proper to borrow a friend’s gun (armscor .22 bolt action) for a week. My brothers loved the recoil-less toy. They quickly learned how to place shots at the right place.

However, after firing several boxes of ammo from it, I realized that firing with a .22 on a target in your backyard is not worth the amount you get a .22 gun for. These rifles range from PKR 34,000 to PKR 80,000 in Pakistan, but the pleasure you intend to get from shooting these rifles is not worth it.

The .22 rifles will always remain a child’s toy in Pakistan, but an insanely expensive toy.

Teaching children to shoot in Pakistan.

This is a picture of my gun rack. My brothers are keen to learn shooting. Currently, I don't have any gun with a smaller bore. Big bores are not comfortable for young shooters. I am looking for a smaller caliber such as .22 or .410 shotgun to introduce the sport to them. Ammunition and guns are always scarce in Pakistan. .410 has become a thing of past. The only option is a .22 rifle. Prices are sky rocketing these days. A good .22 rifle such as BRNO will cost around PKR 80,000 ($800).

Elected leaders in Pakistan

No common man is ever elected to parliament in Pakistan in recent history. All elected people are either big landlords, factory owners or tycoons. Those rich people who don’t directly run the election, fund the rich candidates. How can we, the middle class, expect elected representatives to protect our causes when we don’t elect people like us.
The only political party which gives tickets to middle class candidates is the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). Despite its bad image, the MQM is the only party in Pakistan which has democracy within the party ranks and nominates ordinary party workers to run the elections.
We need to discourage elected leaders who roam in their expensive vehicles surrounded by dozens of protocol vehicles and an equal number of gun-totting body guards.

Pakistan allows NATO to use airspace

Pakistan has allowed the NATO to carry supplies for its forces in Afghanistan. Islamabad has only allowed NATO to use its airspace. The sympathy of Pakistan is not for NATO troops battling in Afghanistan, but its for the food. Pakistani Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar says that Pakistan has allowed NATO to transport food through Pakistan's airspace because the food is perishable.
Mukhtar should have also said that Pakistan's ego and honour are also perishable.  

Memorable rain

It is drizzling here today. Whenever it rains and I reflect on my past, a particular rain stands out in my memory. It was drizzling and I was about to get out of my car in the parking of the session court in Jhelum. Two clients approached me. One was a man in his middle age whose pregnant wife was in jail and we wanted her released on bail.
The other client was a British-Pakistani woman. Her daughter had wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and was starring at some distant thing. The woman's husband was also in jail in a murder case. I felt sorry for the two. It took me five minutes to listen them and brief them. Meanwhile, the rain took pace. When I sat in my car, the music system was playing this song.

Every word from this song hit some chord in me. I am very bad at understanding songs, but the condition and saddened looks on the faces of the clients made me understand each word. The man's wife was released on bail. The woman's husband is still in jail. And that rainy day is etched in my memory.

Concealed carry weapons (CCW) in Pakistan

While browsing the internet, I came across this excellent article on how to carry a concealed weapon. The article has summed up the subject into five simple rules.

Your concealed weapon is for protection of life only: Don't be a bragger and a show-off. A concealed carry weapon (CCW) is never meant to be shown to people to deter them. Don't use it for any purpose other than saving your life or that of some innocent person.

Know exactly when you can use your weapon: Use your CCW only to avoid a deadly threat. The rule of thumb is that a criminal adversary must have ability, opportunity and the intent to cause you serious bodily harm. A brawl on traffic signal is not a threat PERIOD.

If you can run away safely, RUN, by all means: I know you want to kill some bad-ass hooligan with your Rs 50K CCW, but if you can avoid the bass-ass guy by just running away, run.

Display your weapon and go to jail: A CCW weapon is not for display. You have to carry it CONCEALED. If a citizen sees you totting a gun and trotting in his/her street, he/she is justified to tell the police about the 'armed intruder' in the street. In Pakistan, the police will always corner you for not having all documentation concerning conceal carry. So why give someone an opportunity to put you in trouble with law because you didn't have a carry permit.
 
Don't let your emotion to get best of you: A person with a CCW has to be more rationale, logical and cool minded. He should be able to speak yourself out of troubles and quarrels. You should avoid creating confrontations that may end up into violence. Your emotions - except fear - should never instigate you to draw your CCW.

Media should spare courts in Pakistan

State was the only opponent, which defence counsels used to argue their cases against. Now they have to argue it against the media as well.
The first ‘official’ duty that staff perform early in the morning in courts is to place newspapers in judges’ retiring rooms. As a result, judges are already opinionated about the crimes in their respective districts before they even sit in courts, courtesy of crime reports in these newspapers. The argument of defence counsel has very little to influence in judges’ mind because the media has already argued the case well in prosecution’s favour even before the court time starts.
Among things that senior lawyers tell associate lawyers everyday in bar rooms is that “a judge speaks through his judgments” and “a good judge does not read newspaper”. Contrary to these modern legal proverbs, now judges have started speaking through the media and have voraciously started reading newspapers.
This scribe once went to congratulate a lawyer who was elevated to the Lahore High Court. After exchanging pleasantries, the lawyer-turned judge told this scribe that how his staff showed him the clipping of a BBC newsreport which contained the judge’s name. The judge was visibly very happy over his dutiful staff, the true report and the credibility of the B.B.C. A great deal of time was spent discussing the report, which speaks volume about the importance judges pay to their portrayal in the media.
Now judgments have stopped speaking, instead breaking news and scrolling text at the bottom of television screen speak louder than judgments. And these hastily-run media reports often confuse viewers because people in the media know a little about procedural laws in Pakistan.
A growing tendency is also witnessed among complainant parties to approach local journalists to get favourable reports published a day before the decision of the bail or the case. Now the judge has to keep in mind the merits of the case and the monstrous public opinion which has been formed after the publication of that report.
The adjective-laden media reports make the society, including judges, biased against accused. When the whole country has seen a media report about the “killers”, no judge can judiciously apply his mind in the case. The foremost thought on his mind would be what would people think if he acquits the “killer”. Many innocent people are condemned just because the judges can’t tolerate the public pressure.
Just remember how much fuss the media created when a minor girl servant died in a prominent lawyer’s home in Lahore’s defence housing authority. Live reports were aired and after a few days of sensation, the media forgot about the issue as it had never happened. The media declared the lawyer, who was a former president of the Lahore Bar Association, guilty even before the police investigation completed.
In most Western countries, the media can’t even name the suspects or accused before the trial is over. In the UK, there is a growing trend of getting media injunctions wherein the media is barred from commenting, reporting or discussing a subjudice case. Superior courts sometimes also issue super injunctions wherein the media is barred from discussing, commenting or reporting the subjudice case and even the injunction itself.
In Pakistan, things are different. The media has set up a permanent corner outside the apex court where lawyers address it before and after the court session. My friends in the media would testify that only a handful of lawyers refuse to comment on the media because the matter is subjudice whereas a majority of them is happy and willing to discuss the whole case before television cameras. Why people argue their cases before the media when they have approached courts in this regard?
This trend is likely to go unchecked, unless some sane voices among bar, bench and the media realise the damage it is doing to our judicial system. The bar needs to arrange workshops for reporters where they should be informed about legal ethics, right of accused and how media’s commentary on a case may jeopardise its decision.
The superior courts in our country need to issue some guidelines to the media in this regard. They also need to realise and tell subordinate judicial officers about the insignificance media reports, which can portray black as white one day and vice versa the other day.
With due respect to our friends in the media, we cannot deny that the bar and the bench owe a lot to the media because of its unquestioning support for the judicial restoration movement. However, journalists have to realise that suspense and law can’t co-exist. The media can cash in on its ability to create suspense somewhere other than courts. The media is the real power in the world, but reporters should spare courts from their sensational skills because “the freedom of the press means two things: freedom from the press and freedom for the press”.

Private schools vs government schools in Pakistan

Here is the difference between government-run schools and private schools in Pakistan.

A private school students visit a zoo and spot a monkey sleeping in his cage.
"Hey! Look! Monkey is sleeping. Don't disturb him."

Students from a government school also spot the same monkey.
One of them says, "Oye! Vekh tera payo sutta pya hai....leya enho watta marye."
(Look, your daddy is sleeping. Let's hurl a stone at him.)
I once met two people who were watchmen at a government-run school. One of them  was vision impaired and the second was hearing-impaired.

Budget and confused nation

People are least concerned with the budget. They have never been concerned with it. Special TV reports and newspaper supplements only seem to take this issue very seriously.

I can’t understand why the media wants people to expect too much from the budget. Pakistan is a poor country, whose expenses outdo its income. There are a few income sources of Pakistan and none of them is outstanding. We spend too much on our defence (Rs 491.9 billion) and too little on health and education, which shows the priority of the government.

The other confusion that the media has created among the minds of people is that Pakistan is full with natural resources and if utilised, these resources will change the face of Pakistan. The common man always questions why the government don’t utilise these resources. However, the media will always remain silent about the lack of human resource and technology to exploit these natural resources.

The Reqo Dik issue vanished from the scene after confusing the nation. The front-page headlines about Supreme Court’s (SC) suo moto action over the issue ended with a single column news, wherein the SC said it can’t interfere in it and the Balochistan government is competent to make deals with foreign companies to exploit the natural resources.

Now, no one is questioning the SC that why it, along with the media, created so much fuss over the issue, when the SC had to reach at this simple conclusion.

Ten things you didn’t know about Pakistan’s nuke

Bumb!

1. Pakistan’s atom bomb is a Muslim. The bomb is confused about which sect to adopt. Previously, it has adopted and dropped two sects. Now a days it is struggling to become a moderate Muslim bomb.

2. The bomb is the guardian of Islam in Pakistan. Islam would have been in a great danger, had there been no bomb.

3. It wears white shalwar kameez drenched with a lot of ittar.

4. It is a renowned pedophile and it always wears glasses with wide black-tinted lens.

5. It claims it can solve all problems facing Pakistan by reciting some verses.

6. The bomb expects all the Pakistani women to wear jihab and remain pregnant throughout their lives and therefore serve the bomb and Islam.The bomb can pour acid on the face of his ex-wife or ex-girl friend. This is the bomb's way of being possessive.

7. Army is the biggest fan of the bomb.

8. The bomb can liberate all the Muslims of the world. It vows to help all those Muslims oppressed everywhere in the world by getting Pakistani youth slaughtered there.

9. The bomb has been circumcised.

10. The bomb moves in a shinny SUV and no one knows about its source of income or expenses.

Mullah Omer arrested in Pakistan!

Mullah Omer has been arrested from Pakistan. This time Saudi security forces did the operation in such a way that our sovereignty remained intact. Here is the minute by minute detail of the arrest by none other than Nadeem F. Paracha.
If media gurus are to be believed, Pakistan can still restore its lost national pride and violated sovereignty by doing some tricks on the tail of the destroyed US chopper. Here is how. 

Did Pakistan know about Osama's hideout

Had Pakistan known about Osama Bin Laden's Abbotabad hideout, Americans would have found no one in that compound. When the operation against Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives in Pakistani territory started, the US gave reliable intelligence about their presence to Pakistani law enforcement agencies.
What forced the US to start doing these operations itself was tendency in certain elements in Pakistani law enforcement agencies who would one way or other forewarn the terrorists , allowing them to escape. American had to deploy drones to carry out these operations. Had Pakistan complied with the US, drone would not have been used in strikes.
Pakistanis were not aware about Osama's presence in that compound and they were also not informed about the operation  before hand and that is why the US is now celebrating a successful operation.

Why government should not help actors during hardtimes

1. Because they never performed for free. If they did perform free at any time of their life, it was when they were trying to break in the industry. When they become famous, they charged like famous actors. 
2. Because the people always have to pay for the ticket to their shows. 
3. Because they earned quite a large sums of money during their life. 
4. Because they were not frugal and spent the money on their pleasures. 
5. Because the government is poor. 
6. Because every person in Pakistan has to earn his living and the government does not support him during hard times. 

We all know how much Rahat Fateh Ali Khan charges for one performance and how much tax he pays. He is not in the list of tax payers in Pakistan. Let’s go in the future. Our kids are likely to see Rahat dying penniless. The government would be expected to help him. Would he deserve the government’s support when he had earned and wasted millions during his life.

My client gets two bullet shots for saying no

Uzma engaged me her counsel on Monday. She is in jail. She has allegedly killed her husband, inconnivance with her alleged paramour Tasawar. The family of her murdered husband wanted her to give her evidence against Tasawar.
The murder case is a weak case for the prosecution because of the weak circumstantial evidence and the non-recovery of the dead body of Uzma's husband.
A shadowy compromise was reached between Uzma and her in-laws, wherein she was to be released on bail. Suddenly it occured to her that her in-laws might harm her if she did not give in to their demand. This is where she engaged me her counsel. I petitioned the court to call her from jail and let her decide with whom and how she wants to come out of jail. I also mentioned in the petition that her life is in danger. It was agreed that the petition would be a secret between me and Uzma and some of her friends.
I reached the court on Tuesday. I was to meet her before the hearing to brief her about her case.
The police official who was to bring her along, brought her in the car of her in-laws. Her murdered husband’s cousin was also sitting with her. On their way to the court, a brawl took place in the car wherein the cousin pressed her to give evidence in their favour. She refused. The cousin, who was likely to have the knowledge of her latest petition, snatched the official handgun of the police official and shot her twice: once in her hand and second in her abdomen.
I was waiting for her outside the court when the vehicle entered with a fainted person on the back seat. She was taken to the hospital where she survived. Her cousin was arrested at the spot.

Now check the behaviour of the police official. He let her sit with her enemies in their car and was negligent about the safe keeping his gun. 

Family with no natural death and a lot of concubines.

None of the male members of this family has died naturally. No male member of the family married any girl legitimately. Concubines, runaway brides and abducted women have mothered the children of this family. When one brother dies, his wife is taken by other brother. The wife of the elder-most brother has to sleep with all the brothers of her late husband, untill they all die.
This is the story of a family where poverty, ignorance and brutality go hand in hand. All the male members have been either brutally murdered or waiting in death cells for their appeals to be heard by superior courts.
Their grandfather killed seven of a family after the family had told him not to make passes on their girl. He was awarded death sentence by a martial law court. The high court released him after it found serious flaws in his case. The grandfather was also murdered by some unidentified people. His sons also murdered people over women and they were also murdered in return.
Weddings never took place in this family. All the women are either concubines, keeps, are abducted or are developed illicit relations with.
PS: These shocking details have emerged from an old, dusty and bulky file from our office’s archives. More details were given by our paralegal clerk, who has an elephant’s memory.

Why not to carry gun in Pakistan

All gun buffs frequently encounter a serious over-powering temptation to buy a handgun. The temptation drives its power from online gun forums where people talk a lot about carrying guns for self defence and from English movies.

Temptation fades away before buying expensive ammunition:
Most of the gun buffs end up buying a budget gun in Pakistan, which costs around 45,000. For an average Joe, this amount is often the result of hard savings of several months. The average Joe is penniless but has a gun. His next project is likely to be saving money to buy ammunition, which is quite expensive these days. Finally, he gets his hands on some boxes of ammunition. The real problem starts afterwords. There is no firing range to fire the gun. Firing ranges are a luxury in Pakistan which a select few can afford.
The only purpose the gun will now cater for will be of cabinet queen’s and occasional aerial firing. The owner suddenly realises that the gun is too large to conceal and too heavy to carry it comfortably. At this moment, all the temptations to conceal-carry the gun have gone.

Qualification for carrying a gun:
Carrying a gun on someone’s person is not an easy task as it appears. Years of experience of firearm handling, regular shooting at range, dry firing, drawing the gun from holster, practicing various combat training exercises are some of the qualifications for carrying the gun concealed on your person. With the sky-rocketing ammunition prices and shooting ranges with a price tag of elite social clubs disqualify the average Joe in Pakistan from carrying the gun. I am a lawyer who deals in criminal cases. I have yet to encounter a person who actually thwarted a life-threatening situation by using his firarm.
I have seen empty handed people getting murdered and I have also seen people with security guards getting murdered. Who ever strikes first wins. Senior police officials with well trained body guards have been murdered in Pakistan. The recent war on terror has seen senior army officials getting killed. If police and army personnel can’t use their years of experience of firearm, then how can you do. I know it’s discouaraging but its truth.

Do you seriously require gun:
For an average person, the main purpose of conceal carrying the gun is to deal with street mugging. Street crimes can best be avoided by adopting some simple precautions.
If you have life threats, try tackling them with other means. Your enemy is well aware of your security measures and would come well prepared to breach them. He is likely to catch you in surprise. Your’s enemy’s one second early strike will kill you.

Why people have heavy contingents of guards:
The gun totting guards, sitting behind mini trucks are more of decoration pieces than body guards. You are less likely to have heard of any incident in which such a guard saved the life of his master. Having a security guard, besides you is just a pomp and show. What other way does a wanna-be prominant person has in Pakistan, than surrounding himself with gun-totting bodyguards.

Legalities involved in self defence cases:
The law expects you to use a reasonable force in your self defence. You can’t get away with by killing a person who tried to attack or attacked you with fists and blows. You can’t get away with by killing a person who just showed you his gun, but didn’t fire it. You can’t get away with by killing a person who (God forbid) had put a gun on your child’s head and is planning to abduct him.
In all cases you have to face a trial while you are sulking in jail. An uncle of mine killed two persons in his house at night. The court was convinced that the two were people of bad character with history of robbing and they were also trying to robb the house of my uncle. The court still awarded life sentence to my uncle as he used more force than was reasonably required to expel the robbers out of his house.

All about politicians

What Constitution says about parliamentarians: Parliamentarian are supposed to legislate: make new laws and  change the existing laws.


What voters expect from elected-representatives: They are supposed to help voters deal with police and revenue department, help the voters in getting desired transfer and postings.


What media thinks about politicians: They have nothing to do except bad mouth and criticize their political rivals.

What parliamentarian says about himself: I have to win the next elections as well. I have to recover the expenses of  the last election and save some money for the next elections. Hell with the constitution and the media. They are not my voters. 

New year resolutions

We all make resolutions on every new year and see them vanishing in a couple of weeks. I have been lucky to remain resolute on some of my resolutions. They are as follow.

1. Never ever give money to street baggers. 
2. Read more books this year than the previous year.
3. Take coffee or tea without sugar.
4. Practice anger management regularly and I have been lucky in this regard.
5. Don't read Pakistani newspapers and watch news channels.
6. Ogling at girls from the corner of my eye:)