I have returned. There are hiccups but the frequency must now be reaching the point of alarm, considering that output is mere reproduction. Something which could be done much better by simply pasting links (or doing it the tech-savvy way) of relevant events and pasting a tad or two of linking information, or should the whole task be left to BBC? Or Al-Jazeera maybe...

But no, there has to be an Atlas and it cannot shrug or muck, surely not not fuck, or whatever capitalism's Mary Magdalene desired. The act requires slavish devotion, which only the true believer reflects. The ideology and/or creed and/or morality has been a contentious one since the time of apples and naked women, and that's how it shall remain. While stripping might be all good with Anthony Eden, it doesn't go down to well with the educated girls in Ottomand land - and that too of the head. An army of Turkish babes will carried a huge headscarf (or veil which just covers the hair and bares the face) to the university. While an Islamist party is in power in Turkey, and has been for a while, the public institutions have a strong secular character. The Army, as the necesasry evil, dominates the political environment - sometimes through discrete arm-bending and sometimes with wanton abandon - and ensures that the secular legacy of Ataturk stays in vogue. But recently, it has been the democratic institutions that have established themselves and in control. Events, though, necessitate, that the democratic institutions should take a leaf out of the Army book (or manual? or the anarchist cook book?) and take some serious action. Either throw the students out of the university or throw the law out of the constitution. If Muslims are going helter-skelter over not being allowed to wear head-scarves in French and English schools, why can't they wear it at a University. In no Muslim country do we have separate universities for the two sexes - inspite of the penchant for piety. A few tried and failed spectacularly. Some manage but you know the condition. Basically, a 'source of knowledge dissemination' should not be subjected to laws made over the whims of Gods..even.

The scenario in Pakistani Universities is ofcourse deplorable. A hospital in Karachi, a city damningly deficient in healthcare, has witnessed violent clashes between student's of two of its college on the premise, resulting in those colleges closed indefinitely. Two students have been murdered, scores injured and the whole batch left in the lurch. The hospital is a major provider of services to the down-trodden of which Karachi has too many. It is one place where one expects compassion. But employment of students for political nitpicking takes precedence.

If this is not enough, the Karachi University, a sprawling and for most patches barren expanse of land, is the largest in the province. Clashes of political nature are common. Bystanders even have favorite viewing spots, as the gladiators have marked the arenas. The last death that I remember was of a Marxist. It's the one I remember, otherwise someone is killed every now and then. But recently, it is said, the chopped and sliced body of an activist of the student wing of the MQM (exiled leader Altaf Bhai in England drum rolls please), who are generally in a fued with the IJT, student wing of the country's main Islamist party, and/or PSF, which has an ethnic base. Just like the three states in Orwell's '1984'. Perpetual war and peace. Very much unlike Tolstoy and his stories where he preached only peace. And at other times, no violence. And quite a bit. Coming back to the story, the chopping and slicing was carried by another attack. This time, a public bus, which had just passed the university bus-stop and had in it four members of the IJT, with obvious travelling patterns. A further down the road from the university, the public bus was assailed with bullets by four gun-men with partners on motorbikes. The ambush and firing lasted for atleast 15 mins after which a bomb was hurled in the bus. Of the 7 reported dead, 4 were students the political body, and the rest collateral - as they say in Texas. A further down the road is a check-post of the Para-military forces deployed in and outside the University to ensure that dirty student politics doesn't cloud the academic environment. While the baking in sunlight and bathing in dust leaves little appetite for munching on academic delights, the least that the para-military force can do is not be caught napping. While the law-enforcing institutions have never been too competent in bringing about general order - now that finally Army oriented disillusions are also being dispelled - what causes concern and can be fatal for the faint-hearted is the incredulity depicted by mobs of young men (and mostly men) in engaging in acts of petty vengeance, but always under the guise of a great vision. 'Monkey killing monkey killing monkey'....springs to the head. Adult violence is generally excused because of lack of education. Student politics doesn't even have that sort of leverage. We are un-organized and chaotic in every aspect. There are no protests which do not turn ugly. Calculated political hits are not the way systems evolve. The generation next is all set to unleash barbarism - whenever they ascend to power.

While, we fail to protest in any manner, the largest public gathering in Burma has taken place in twenty years. The initial spark were the monks.

Okay, this has less of facts and more of pontification. I have turned into a useless rambling git. Must condense.