I was sitting in the waiting room of a clinic at OMI hospital. The waiting rooms are all the same every where in the world. You can imagine the scene. There are not-so-comfortable sofas with a coffee table in the center and some magazines lying on it, a few elderly ladies accompanied by their daughters or sons, an elderly man looking at me preparing to start a conversation, doctor’s secretary on her desk wearing lots of make up and consistently chatting with her boyfriend on the phone. And me, checking the magazines that I would normally never read. My eyes dropped on an Urdu newspaper, it had the photo of a man with a stupid smile. I recognized him, He is Javed Chodhry a famous Urdu columnist who is popular for his emotional columns. He used to write for the Daily Jang the most popular Urdu newspaper but then he left Jang and joined the second most popular Urduy Daily, The Express.
I picked it up and started reading it. At first he talked about Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto that how he understood the US policies and realized that US is not a reliable friend. Then Mr. Chodhry tells us that Russia is giving the money and weapons to Taleban in Afghanistan and since Pakistan was a US ally in both Afghan wars, Russia is also supporting the Talebans in Pakistan. He builds his argument beautifully involves India and Iran in it too and it all makes sense until he writes which I translate below:
Our army has arrested people from tribal areas who are uncirumcised, eat meat of dogs and cats and drink alcohol.
I didn’t know that Russians ate dogs and cats. And how Pakistan army found out that these people eat cats and dogs? Were they having a party when Pakistan Army arrested them? Or these people later requested Pakistani forces to provide them fresh meat of dogs and cats? I don’t think that Hindus, Russians or Afghans eat cats or dogs. Why would they? and why would Javed Chodhry write such a foolish thing?
