President Pervez Musharraf has told Jemima Khan in an interview published in the British daily The Independent that: “My role as a president is simply the checks and balances, the seatbelts… a sort of father figure to the prime minister, but I won’t have to see him for weeks.” Jemima is the ex-wife of Pakistani politician/famous cricketer Imran Khan.
“Talking peace, Musharraf said he would work with ‘everyone’, asserting that the country must move from the current politics of confrontation to a policy of reconciliation.” In the Indian subcontinent they would say: “Sau chuhe khaake billi Haj ko chali” (After feasting on hundreds of mice the cat embarks on a pilgrimage.)
Agencies report that the polling was largely peaceful in most parts of the country, barring minor incidents of clashes among the supporters of contesting parties, according to Pakistan’s Election Commission officials.
Over 81 million voters were eligible to take part in the polling in Pakistan’s four provinces of Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and seven restive tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan to choose 272 members of the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament and 728 members of provincial assemblies for a five-year term.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.