Ask the Pakistani Guy..

  1. No no bomb shelters or emergency supplies.

  2. Yes very concerned about a nuclear armed Iran. That would make it 3 neighbours with nukes (India, China and Iran). In addition Iran has a history of invading this area for about the last 2500 years.

3)Military is more independent than is the norm is western countries yes. A coup is always a possibility, but history shows they have come when civilian governments have completely lost control, that is’nt happened yet.

  1. Fundamamentalist control is again unlikely. From open sources, Pakistani strategic assets are divided, with the various services controlling the launchers, while the National Command Authority having control over the actual warheads and the NCA’s Employment Control Committee having actual authority on ordering the use.
    National Command Authority

A launch by a rouge is very very very unlikely. And its unlikely that a rouge will be allowed near anything to do with nukes, although what I am about to say is anecdotal, I feel its relevent. My uncle was a fighter pilot in the airforce and when he got divorced, he was grounded for several weeks until he had counseling. I think people with fundamentalist tendancies will get caught pretty quickly, usually they are’nt the type to keep it quiet.

Would it be far more insulting to call an Indian a “Paki”, than a Pakistani? How can I distinguish between them so I can increase the efficacy of my witty racist banter?

WF Tomba,
The climate in Pakistan varies quite a lot depending on location. The northern areas of Pakistan are quite cold and receive quite a bit of snowfall, it being a mountainous area (some of the tallest mountains in the world are in that area). The foothills and plains towards the middle of the country can get very hot in the summers and quite chilly in the winters. Moving southwards, the winters can get quite mild with the summers being very hot still apart from the coastal belt. Karachi lies along that coastal belt and from personal experience, I can say that the average temperature range is between 33 degrees C in the summer to 15 degrees C in the winter. Pakistan is an arid country, we receive very little rainfall and most of it is during the monsoon season (between late May to late August).

Regarding the air quality, it differs drastically between urban and rural areas. The big cities (Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad being the biggest 3 cities) are quite polluted, especially Karachi. I remember reading a factoid somewhere that the pollutants in the air in some areas of Karachi were found to be 20 times the maximum level recommended by the WHO. Obviously, the rural areas have way better air quality.

It primarily depends on how religious the women are, and whether the women live in rural or urban areas. For example, the rural Pashtuns, inhabiting the areas bordering Afghanistan, are very much a patriarchal society and enforce the burqa. From a constitutional point of view, women have the same status as men and you can see that if you travel across the country where you can see men and women working side by side. Nowadays, it is common to see women having careers in fields like politics / commercial pilots etc and now even in the armed forces. However, there is a certain degree of segregation between the sexes and in some cases, discrimination against women. In most areas of Pakistan, women do not have to cover their faces or heads. Covering the head is a cultural statement which signifies the modesty of a woman. Most women who cover their head will do it during religious ceremonies. In cities, I see women having their heads and faces uncovered all the time and its not a big deal at all.

What was your reaction to this New York Times Magazine article by Dexter Filkins?

I think that if the English and the French can get into bed together politically,economically and militarily then India and Pakistan have quite a reasonable chance of finding common ground with each other in the future, though I’ve no doubt at all that it will take many,many years.

I just realized that access to this article requires registration. It’s free, but that might have discouraged you from reading it. Here’s an excerpt:

American Scientist Magazine article about Kashmir megaquakes

Excerpt:
Kashmir Valley Megaearthquakes

Estimates of the magnitudes of past seismic events foretell a very shaky future for this pastoral valley
Susan Hough, Roger Bilham, Ismail Bhat

Kashmir, lying at collision line between the continents of India and Asia, is one of the most seismically active regions on Earth. Compared to San Francisco, for example, which saw a mere 4 meters of displacement in its historic 1906 quake, Kashmir has seen numerous temblors with more than 20 meters of displacement. The authors review the locations, magnitudes and destructiveness of Kashmiri earthquakes over the past 500 years and conclude that another big one is on the way. The only questions are exactly when and where.
Unfortunately the rest of the article is pay-only. I read about it the print version. Bottom line; geological and historical records indicate that the Kashmir region appears to be overdue for a magnitude 7.5 - 8.0 earthquake.

Are the folks in that area aware of this, and are they taking steps to minimize loss of life? (Of course anyone who lives in the Kashmir area knows there are frequent earthquakes. But an 8.0 is an entirely different animal.)