RIP

For all those killed in the airplane crash near Islamabad and for those who died in the recent floods in Pakistan:

'We belong to Allah and to Him do we return'

152 dead : Airblue plane crash

417+ dead : Floods in Pakistan

I urge you to pray for all those who have lost their life and to donate money to those people affected by the floods. You can donate to Muslim Aid, here.

Graves in Karachi

Readers of this blog might remember that I posted about the condition of graveyards in Pakistan. I managed to find a list of cemeteries in Karachi (which I obtained from Wiki):

Muslims
Jannatul Baqi Graveyard at Hub River Road, S.I.T.E.

* Azeempura Cemetery, Shah Faisal Colony
* Bagh-e-Ahmed (AMI's Karachi Chapter Cemetery)
* Essa Nagri Graveyard, Main Sir Shah Suleman Road (officially declared closed)
* Gizri Cemetery, D.H.A.
* Mewashah Cemetery (officially declared closed)
* Jannatul Baqi Cemetery, Hub River Road, S.I.T.E.
* Leemo Goth Graveyard, Haji Leemo Goth, Gulshan-e-Iqbal
* Metrovill III Graveyard, Metrovill III, Gulshan-e-Iqbal
* Mian Goth Cemetery, Malir
* Model Colony Cemetery (New), Malir
* Model Colony Cemetery (Old), Malir
* New Karachi Cemetery, New Karachi
* Old Morraro Cemetery, S.I.T.E.
* P.E.C.H.S. Cemetery, Tariq Road (officially declared closed)
* Paposh Nagar Cemetery (officially declared closed)
* Sakhi Hassan Cemetery, North Nazimabad (officially declared closed)
* Peer Bukhari Graveyard, Mannoo Goth, Gulshan-e-Iqbal
* Pehalwan Goth Graveyard, Pehalwan Goth, Gulistan-e-Johar
* Saudabad Cemetery, Malir (officially declared closed)
* Shah Faisal Cemetery(Colony Gate), Shahrah-e-Faisal (officially declared closed)
* Shanti Nagar Graveyard, Dalmia Road, Shanti Nagar
* Wadi-e-Hussain Cemetery, Super Highway (Wadi-e-Hussain.com)

Christian

* Gora Kabristan, Shahrah-e-Faisal.

Jewish

* Bani Israel Graveyard

Zoroastrian (Parsi)

* Parsi Dar-e-Meher (Fire Temple), Dr Umar Bin Muhammad Daudpota Road.


In Urdu, a grave is called a qabar and a graveyard/cemetery is called a qabarstan.

Which cemeteries have you visited? How did you find them? Did you think the cemetery was being well looked after? How important is it for the future generations that gravestones are preserved? Leave a comment below or email me at pakistani_g[at]hotmail.co.uk

'Who do you think you are?' Its back!

Having been deprived of this particular documentary for a year, I thought perhaps the makers of the program had forgotten to broadcast another season of 'Who do you think you are?'. Last year, I posted about season 7 where Davina McCall and Boris Johnson participated. So I was pleased to see that the show will reappear on our screens on July 19th, ready to enthrall us with insights into celebrity ancestries.

According to Wiki-meister (lol), season 8 will bring us tales about Bruce Forsyth, Rupert Everett (Prince Charming from Shrek :p), Monty Don, Jason Donovan, Hugh Quarshie, Rupert Penry-Jones, Dirvla Kirwan, Alan Cumming and Alexander Armstrong.

As always it's on BBC One at 9pm, so don't miss it! I certainly won't be especially with BBC iPlayer.

Remembering our shaheed .. 12

I'm posting more announcements of our shaheed (martyred) who are fighting for our country, our people and our freedom.

Wednesday June 23rd 2010

'Wednesday's clashes, which also killed a paramilitary soldier and wounded nine, happened in the militant stronghold of Djabori that was captured by the security forces last month.

Over 600 militants and about two dozen security personnel have been killed in fighting over the past month in Orakzai, one of the major bases of the Pakistani Taliban, who are fighting both the Pakistani state and coalition forces in Afghanistan.' (Dawn)

Monday July 5th 2010

'Four militants in vehicles packed with explosives and rockets stormed a heavily-guarded fort in Lower Dir early on Monday morning, killing one soldier and injuring 12 others.

Twelve soldiers and an officer were wounded. One soldier, identified as Hazrat Nabi, died in hospital. ' (Dawn)


Note: I can only provide you with names if I find them in the news articles I browse. If you think something needs correcting, please do leave me a message. I try my best.

We should all pray for these men and their families and recognise their courage and sacrifice for their country.

Are you related to a soldier? Do you have memories of a loved one dying in a war? Do you have a message for the soldiers fighting? Leave me a comment.

One year on .. (3)

An unnamed soldier
lost his life in Jandola in the Bannu district, Swat
on 18th July 2009

Six unnamed soldiers
died in Northwest Pakistan
21st July 2009

An unnamed soldier
was killed in a mortar attack in North Waziristan
on 22nd July 2009

Burials: unknown

What I do, Tech-wise

I have been unavailable for the past couple of weeks and haven't been able to post. But here is my contribution to Thomas MacEntee's What I do meme:

* Hardware: Sony Vaio NW11S/S 15.5in Laptop

* External storage: USB drive

* Online storage: Google Documents

* Backup: Papers, Google Documents, USB drive

* Firewall: Dont know

* Virus protection: AVG

* Spyware: AVG

* File cleaner: None

* Printer: A faulty Epson that need's fixing or dumping :(

* Scanner: None but would love to buy one! Suggestions of any good ones?

* Phone: Landline, Sony Ericsson 580i

* Mobile media: Huh?

* Music player: Ipod

* Car audio: Don't have a car!

* eBook Reader: None

* Browser: Mozilla Firefox

* Blog: Blogger

* RSS: Google reader

* FTP: Huh?

* Text editor: Microsoft Office 2007, Notepad

* Graphics: Nothing fancy, just Paint and Microsoft Office Picture Manager

* Screen capture: Snipping Tool

* Social media: Facebook, Twitter

* Social bookmarking: None

* Social profile: None

* URL shortener: bit.ly

* Office suite: Microsoft Office 2007

* E-mail: Windows Live, Yahoo

* Calendar: Google Calendar

* Accounting: Excel

* PDF generator: Adobe Acrobat

* Genealogy database: Legacy 7, Family Tree Builder

* Genealogy tools: None that I can think of

* Other tech stuff: Sony Cybershot camera

I feel I need to spend more time on 'geeking up' and learning how to use technological tools to help my research.