Opinion

More Snow in Cambridge
By Sir Cam
Cambridge, England

We'd been warned about it by the Met Office: the snow was coming. And so it did this morning (February 8). A few inches of snow and there is chaos and mayhem. Any excuse to stay at home and have a holiday, I think. Why bother venturing out to school, work, etc when the weekend was round the corner. Lazy buggers, I thought, as I wandered around the colleges.
A photo of King's College in the snow was taken at 8.30am. Clare College is to the left, then we have King's chapel, and the bridge to the right over the River Cam in the foreground. A classic Cambridge scene, I think.

MORE ON BATALA, INDIA
Prof KK Aziz is back after his 10-day trip to Amritsar and Batala over in Indian Punjab. KK's old class fellows at MB High School, Batala in the 1940s included Prof Anwar Syed of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a regular columnist at Dawn, and also Prof Mukhtar Chaudhry.
K.R.N.Swamy e-mailed this week from India to say, "Glad to know that Professor Aziz is visiting India and Batala. I will always remember that he wanted my dedication of my book on the Peacock Throne to the memory of his father Prof Abdul Aziz, and to describe his father as Professor Abdul Aziz of Batala". Swamy sahib is the author of "The Peacock Thrones of the World" and "Mughals, Maharajas and the Mahatma".
Vishal also e-mailed from India saying, "I am from Batala and just came to know a lot about Pre-Partition Batala's famous people only after reading your article". That cheered me. In fact, I've written three pieces on this small town, which has produced a very long list of distinguished people. You'd think it was the Cambridge of pre-partition Punjab.

MORE ON MUSH
After reading my "Letter to Mush," T. Sultan e-mailed from the USA, "Blaming the army will not be enough" and one mustn't forget the harmful role of feudals and corrupt politicians and bureaucrats over the past 60 years. Zubair e-mailed from Qatar, pleading "Please stop Pakistan bashing," and, "It is very easy to sit in Europe and point a finger at us without knowing the ground realities. I suggest you come to Pakistan for a long stay, and see the situation on the ground". A number of other well-wishers, including Darr sahib of London, however, have warned about visiting Pakistan. What is one to do?!

MORE ON PAK TOURISM
Romano Karim e-mails from Pakistan, "It is gratifying to hear that our Tourism Minister is proposing to launch Visit Pakistan 2007 [it has been launched]. Now would be a good time to get back from the Army some of Pakistan's major tourist attractions; I refer to the Attock and Peshawar fort, plus the Bahawalpur Noor Mahal and other adjoining historic buildings.
"At the moment, tourists can only view these wonderful buildings from afar. I have been told that a recent Government tourist publication lists the Attock Fort as a destination but warns tourists that access is denied. They are, however, welcome to view it from across the river!"

PLEASE DO MORE FOR THE MOSQUE
A regular reader of the DIARY has e-mailed, "The GLA (London Mayor's Office) is currently in the process of deciding the fate of the proposed £100m mosque in London. The Evening Standard is running a poll of those in support and those not in support of building the Masjid. Please vote for a good
cause and go to the site below and vote "YES" to the Masjid proposal and also forward this message to all Muslims you know. The website link is:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/poll/poll-18791-details/ques-18669-id/%C2%A3100m+mosque%3A+Vote+now/poll.do

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