Hulleye Comes By!

it is the ten year death anniversary of the only Pakistani Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Abdus Salam. It really is too bad he wasn’t considered a Pakistani nor does the state acknowledge any Pakistani to have one a Nobel. The Pakistaniat covers in depth the life and contributions of the Doctor. Also cited is the Daily Times entry which truly explains what a sad state of affairs the country is at this point, that we have to outcast our own citizens. It is a sham, a lie and a farce all at the same time.

The tragedy of our treatment of Dr Abdus Salam

Dr Abdus Salam (1926-1996) died ten years ago. He was the first Pakistani to get a Nobel Prize in 1979. But he might be the last if we continue to allow our state to evolve in a way that frightens the rest of the world. Our collective psyche runs more to accepted ‘wisdom’ than to scientific inquiry; and even if we were to display an uncharacteristic outcropping of individual genius the world may be so frightened of it that it might not give us our deserts.

We are scared of honouring Dr Salam because of our constitution which we have amended to declare his community as ‘non-Muslim’. When Dr Salam died in 1996 he had to be buried in Pakistan because he refused to give up his Pakistani nationality and acquire another that respected him more. But the Pakistani state was afraid of touching his dead body. He was therefore buried in Rabwa, the home town of his Ahmedi community whose name is also unacceptable to us and has been changed to Chenab Nagar by a state proclamation. But that was not the end of the story. After he was buried, the pious, law-abiding and constitution-loving people of Jhang, which is nearby, went over to Chenab Nagar to see if all had been done according to the constitutional provisions regarding the Ahmedi community to which he belonged.

Click here for more.

Over at Filmcritic.com, Christopher Null has undertaken the grave and important task of ranking the top ten cinematic spaceships. It’s hard to argue with a list that includes the Millenium Falcon, Heart of Gold from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the Nostromo from Alien. But including both the Klingon Bird of Prey AND the USS Enterprise? C’mon. And the Apollo 13? Plus, no mention of Serenity! Still, who doesn’t like to recall the glory of the Gunstar from The Last Starfighter?

via Wired.