Hoje [03/03] pela manhã uma dúzia de pistoleiros  atacou o time de críquete do Sri Lanka [en] antes de uma partida contra o time do Paquistão, em Lahore. Esta matança sangrenta deixou mortas sete pessoas, incluindo cinco policiais, e seis jogadores cingaleses dentre os feridos. Os terroristas estavam munidos com as mais modernas armas, incluindo granadas de mão, lança-granadas-foguete, rifles, etc. Por sorte não houve perdas entre os jogadores cingaleses e eles estão no caminho de volta para seu país.

Estava em  aula quando ouvimos as estrondosas pancadas dos tiros. Ficamos curiosos e começamos a fazer especulações sobre o que poderia estar ocorrendo e um de meus amigos até mesmo contou uma piada enquanto continuávamos nossas atividades. Mas continuava com a sensação de que algo estava de fato errado e de que algo terrível estava acontecendo. Depois de apenas cinco minutos, recebi um SMS de um amigo e vim a saber sobre o ataque.

Todos, incluindo nosso professor, ficamos assustados e ele foi generoso em nos liberar da aula. Minha universidade fica bem perto do local onde se deu o ataque, o Liberty Chowk. Já podíamos ver o engarrafamento no trânsito e uma situação de pânico na rua do lado de fora da universidade. Chegavam rumores de todos os cantos de que teria havido um grande número de vítimas nesse ataque, alguns disseram que cingaleses estavam também entre elas.

Imediatamente, corri para o laboratório de Internet com a esperança de assistir na TV, ao vivo,  tomadas de cena sobre o que realmente teria ocorrido. Fiquei chocado ao ver a luta sangrenta entre os terroristas e a Polícia, à medida que a TV SAMAA colocava no ar sequências do ataque. Fiquei aliviado em saber que os cingaleses estão seguros, mas ao mesmo tempo, fiquei triste em ouvir sobre as baixas entre os policiais locais.

Para maiores detalhes sobre meus relatos pessoais, favor acessar o meu blogue. [en]

A AlJazeeraEnglish colocou [en] o seguinte vídeo no YouTube, incluindo cenas do ataque:

Naeem Sidhu dá a notícia de primeira mão [en] com as seguintes palavras:

On Tuesday morning, our revered Cricketing friends from Sri Lanka were attacked in Lahore, leaving the whole nation embarrassed, shocked and with our heads shaken in disbelief. With the approval of the Colombo Government, SL team decided to tour Pakistan despite security fears and they courageously defied the advice by other Cricketing nations. India was more vocal against the tour by SL team. Due to our security lapse, Tuesday shooting has helped in vindication of their stance and has resulted in  closing doors of International Cricket in Pakistan for many years to come – the worst set back to game in its history.

Yasir Imran tenta acordar [ur] o atual governo com as seguintes  palavras:

“This is an extremely sad incident, that can certainly be proved as quite bad for Pakistani cricket. But the current government's attention can lower this danger. Pakistan Peoples Party should think beyond their own benefit, to spare some time for the nation because after the rein of Bhutto's Rule, none of the Peoples Party governments have been proved good for the country. In all of their governments, inflation and corruption has increased”

O blogue Pakistani Housewife [Dona de Casa Paquistanesa] dá voz a [en] sua frustração:

What has happened to the world we live in? Is there an end to this madness? The situation in the world in general and in Pakistan in particular is getting worse everyday. These are the streets we walk in, the roads we drive on with our kids but nothing seems to be the same. I think these terror attacks kill a few people but terrorize the minds of hundreds and thousands of us. They make us numb, takes away the desire to live and the hope for a happy future is missing from our lives, in these terrible times.

Teeth Maestro diz: [en]

It is now certain that this tragic event marks the end of Cricket in Pakistan for sometime, the blame game with India is already nearing a frenzy, analysts like Kamran Khan on Geo and Hamid Gul have pointed fingers towards India already. One must note that the attack looks erringly too similar to the Mumbai attack but logically one must understand that this could very well be a cover up to instigate a war of words between India and Pakistan. Our politicians, intelligence agencies and media were blood thirsty looking for an excuse to kick back at India for the Mumbai assault and todays events in Lahore might serve them with an opportunity.

Kamran Abbasi no cricinfo [en] resume:

The least of the consequences of this disaster is that those who have advocated the continuation of international cricket in Pakistan - including me - have been proved wrong. No international team will now visit Pakistan, and the Pakistan Cricket Board should voluntarily arrange all future tours at neutral venues for the next year, may be longer. This the darkest day in the history of Pakistan cricket and it occurred in a pleasant suburb of Lahore, a once great city of gardens and tranquility,

O presidente do Paquistão, Sr. Asif Ali Zardari, encontrou-se [En] recentemente em Nova York com Sarah Palin, candidata republicana à vice-presidência dos Estados Unidos da América, e usou palavras um bocado galanteadoras durante o encontro. Mais parecia que Zardari havia ido a um encontro romântico do que a uma reunião política formal. O presidente paquistanês disse coisas como:

“You are even more gorgeous in life. . .”

“Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you”

Quando um fotógrafo os pediu para que apertassem as mãos por uma segunda vez, Zardari respondeu candidamente:

“If he is insisting, I might hug. .”

A blogosfera paquistanesa respondeu criticamente ao presidente galanteador. Alguns fizeram piadas a respeito, enquanto outros se mostraram furiosos com ele. Vamos dar uma olhada:

Altaf Khan, do blogue The Pakistani Spectator [En], escreveu:

Just after showing his intense mourning (with ashen face) of the assassination of his late wife Benazir Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari met the beauty Queen of Alaska and the Republican runner for the Vice President, and twice admired her stunning looks. Sexy and dazzling Palin was ecstatic, though now as she is being painted as a Barbie doll for the foreign presidents by the Democrats, there is another row to haggle upon for the political analysts. […]

Shakir Lakhani do Chowrangi [En] menciona que o comportamento do presidente vai contra os princípios islâmicos:

I wonder how the president of an Islamic Republic can even think of hugging a woman who is not closely related to him. But Mr. Zardari even said (that) he would hug her if his aide insisted (the aide had merely asked him to shake hands with her). […]

Dr. Awab Alvi do blogue Teeth Maestro [En] notou que:

It seems to have been the perfectly scripted conversation as temporal had predicted well before the actual Sarah Palin and Asif Zardari meetup. There maybe some fanatics in Pakistan who may even cringe at seeing him shaking hands with a women, but whatever the objection and whether we like it or not it has become a routine in western interactions and I might even suggest that such flirtatious comments might even be the norm but I dare to say, at least not on camera. It is quite possible that Sarah Palin considered these as a complement, but if you were to observe the video footage of the exchange she does feel a little uneasy.

Adnan Siddiqi [En] não foi cortês com Zardari em suas palavras:

We must thank Zardari as he represented (the) Pakistani nation, especially Pakistani men in front of (the) Americans. Yesterday when Zardari met Sarah Palin then he could not control his emotions and showed all his teeth (not sure they are genuine since I heard they were pulled out when he was in jail) and expressed love in a typical (..) style which is common among Pakistani men. […]

During the whole meeting Zardari was not found mourning about BiBi like he is used to mourn in every press conference in Pakistan.

Em meu próprio blogue, eu ilustrei [En] o encontro e a vida de galanteios do Presidente Zardari em um vídeo humorístico [En]. Aqui está o vídeo [Ur] de um noticiário original em Urdu sobre o encontro.