It poured down gently, taking away quite a bit of heat. The blanket I had tossed carelessly into my embarrassingly messy cupboard some days back was dragged out.  It had gotten pretty cold. The ceiling fan was still and quiet again on my room’s white-washed roof, and the drawn red curtains flapped madly day and night. Dragging in more cold.

Even in the morning, nature continued to show its mercy with the same light winds and a constant grey shade. The people in Islamabad couldn’t see the sun; hidden safely behind the mantle of clouds. The sporadic rains seemed to stay with the winds; cool and pleasant.

People had been holed up in their homes as the heat began mounting, alerting them for the coming inevitable season that surprisingly took a respite from its duty. People holed up in their homes, prepping for summer, came outside to enjoy the weather.

Though, it was no rest for people working during office hours, the usually empty streets seemed to seethe with people. The Parks in Rawalpindi and Islamabad were crowded even at noon. The lonely and sad benches finally had some company, and so did the roses. Housewives strolled the parks, pushing strollers. Kids enjoyed the seesaws, the swings, and even the slides.

Young men played cricket the typical Pakistani way with some bricks as wickets and a tennis ball. Even young women felt thrilled, and roamed relentlessly around the shops in Sadar and Blue Area, splurging their father’s, brother’s, and even cousin’s hard earned cash on new shoes, clothes, and handbags.

People did not seem to forget the eating spots, and when the sun dipped below the horizon line in the sky, they flooded these places in numbers. Families enjoyed eating outside Rahat by perching themselves on several seats placed for their comfort. Others ate pizzas and even ice-creams to their hearts content inside their cars.

KFC was as usual filled with a youth, munching on chicken burgers; we are a chicken eating nation after all. Several people crushed towards the counters just to get their share of treats. Islamabad looked similar. And at night, under the sterling, twinkling lights at Pir-Suhawa, families enjoyed the serenity of weather.

The Weather is changing with at a very slow but deliberate pace, and the lost heat has found the twin cities again. Dark, heavy clouds have rolled out, and the sun is slowly beginning to intensity its summer glare. Even if rains have stopped, the winds are still quite soothing and calm. You can still feel like that element of sudden spring gentleness has yet to leave.

The people still enjoy themselves and hang out, but it is obvious that this spell of calm won’t last long, and the coming summer will break it.

Post by: Shagufta Shah

ISLAMABAD – In a loud and clear message that Pakistan’s national interest will guide its policy, Islamabad on Saturday unambiguously warned Washington against any hot pursuit inside its territory or making the country a scapegoat for the US failure in Afghanistan.

With Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani strongly rejecting the US assertions of complicity with the Haqqanis and of Pakistan launching a proxy war, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar also hit out at the US, warning it against crossing the “red-lines” and making it a “scapegoat” for failed objectives (in Afghanistan)[..] Read full..

Gen Kayani warns of ‘hot pursuit’ to curb cross-border attacks

ISLAMABAD – Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani demanded on Saturday a halt to repeated cross-border terrorist attacks into Pakistani territory from Afghanistan and warned that Pakistan Army would eliminate the “miscreants” responsible for these assaults no matter where they were if NATO and the Afghan army did not take any action against them [..] Read full…

Update 1:Magnitude 6.3 confirmed. Region: Hindukush Region, Afghanistan, Longitude: 70.826, Latitude: 36.488

About Breaking Gupp:
Breaking Gupp is the segment where we’ll be posting all the breaking
newsGupps we get! Just remember, it’s not always a Gupp!

As the events are being unfolded, CAA (Civilian Aviation Authorities) has submitted an initial report which contains the warning from the control tower to the pilot. The report says the recording is as follows:

Control tower’s first warning: You are getting away from the runway.

Pilot’s response: We can see the runway.

Control tower’s second warning: Turn to your left immediately, you are heading towards Margalla Hills.

Pilot’s response: We can see that.

This was the last reply form the pilot and then the flight lost its contact with the control tower and soon after it crashed.

CAA’s initial report says that the pilot took the wrong turn and turned to left instead of turning right. Now hang on! Isn’t that contradicting to the recording? The pilot was asked to turn left immediately! Whereas the report says the pilot should have turned to right. So apparently it seems the fault and responsibility of 152 casualties is at the control tower!

Police says they have received complaints from various people who told that there has been a notice restricting Pakistanis over there at the restaurant. What are these people playing at, opening restaurants in Islamabad,the capital city and not allowing Pakistanis in there.

In a report here, BBC has published some findings after interviewing the owner of the restaurant and has concluded that these reports were just the result of misunderstandings. As the owner of the restaurant Mr. Jean-Luc Hue explains:

“This is just a misunderstanding, I only put the sign up for the month of Ramadan. Since it was not worth it for them to come after the fast breaks [at sunset], I decided to put up the sign but some people didn’t appreciate it,”

BBC interviewer also inquires about the reports that say that the said restaurant had been maintaining an anti-Pakistan kind of policy even before Ramadan.

Mr. Hue denies those reports and admits that they have been selective about the entrants and that he had to ask two Pakistani young guys to leave because of their misbehave. He had been emphasizing that their selection isn’t based on race.

He concludes while saying:

“I’m a restaurant owner, and I want to have a business,” he says. “Pakistanis are more than welcome. Why would I refuse Pakistanis when I need them for my business?”

People have expressed various opinions, some associated the attacks to the Taliban, millitants, and Indian involvement while others called it a result of American policies.

For ages, people have been blaming Pakistan to be the responsible of terrorism. In fact we are the one who have suffered the most out of this terrorism, We’ve been targeted and at the end, these are innocent Pakistanis who die unnatural and horrible death. What I believe is that America is worsening the situation by forcing Pak Army to carry out a operation in tribal areas.

I think terrorism has now become the biggest threat for Pakistan, therefor we should remove America’s involvement and put all over efforts to eliminate terrorism.