Shakil Chaudhary

In 1990, a Pakistani Major Predicted Saddam Would Capture Washington Within a Week.

Waseem Altaf is one of Pakistan’s most prominent social media influencers and advocates for peace and rationality. He holds a master’s degree in applied psychology from Punjab University, Lahore, and an MPhil in psychology from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He joined the Civil Service of Pakistan—commonly referred to as the Central Superior Services (CSS)—in 1991 and retired as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. A staunch believer in regional peace, he maintains that the Kashmir issue should not be allowed to hinder India-Pakistan rapprochement. With a substantial following on social media, Waseem Altaf continues to engage audiences with his thoughtful posts on peace, history, and social reform. You can follow him on Facebook here: 👉 facebook.com/WaseemAltafOfficial ************************************ Dr. Rishi Bharadwaj earned his PhD in electrical engineering from Lamar University, a public institution of higher learning in Beaumont, Texas. Despite his technical background, he has a profound interest in history and politics. Rishi hails from Satna, a city of about 300,000 people in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the eighth most populous city in the state and lies approximately 500 km east of the capital, Bhopal. Satna has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Smart Cities Mission. Rishi has been closely observing Pakistan since 2010, when he first came across a video clip of Mr. Zaid Hamid. He is a passionate admirer of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, and Ambedkar, and also greatly appreciates the work of Dr. Venkat Dhulipala, particularly his book Creating a New Medina, which Rishi describes as a "myth-busting" work. His historical views are marked by clarity and conviction. He believes the Aryan Invasion Theory is a myth. He maintains that the Arya Samaj never subscribed to idol worship and that the Shuddhi movement did not involve coercion. He notes that Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817–1898) opposed holding the ICS examination in India and rejected the concept of representative government. According to Rishi, Allama Iqbal took pride in his Brahmanical ancestry. He points out that Lala Lajpat Rai (1865–1928) proposed the partition of India as early as 1924, while Bhagat Singh (1907-1931) opposed the idea, arguing that it would spell the death of socialism in the subcontinent. Rishi also highlights the moral and political complexities of the time. He recalls how Gandhi spent many days in Noakhali (now in Bangladesh) after the massacre of Hindus there, during which, he notes, local Muslims created difficulties for him. He quotes Sher-i-Bengal Maulvi Fazlul Haq (1873–1962) as saying that Gandhi’s presence in Noakhali had harmed Islam immensely. In September 2022, I interviewed him with a focus on the Kashmir issue. You can watch it here: 🔗 https://youtu.be/KuI4VpfK3wc You are welcome to follow him on Facebook: 🔗 https://www.facebook.com/rish108 ************************************ Shakil Chaudhary is a journalist, author, and researcher. He is an alumnus of Government College, Lahore. He later studied International Relations at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, and Media and Communications at the London School of Economics. Over the years, he has worked for several leading English-language newspapers and a few other organizations. He is the author of the critically acclaimed bilingual book Handbook of Functional English (Ferozsons), designed to help South Asians improve their English language skills. Prof. Tariq Rahman, one of South Asia’s most distinguished linguistic scholars, has praised the book, calling it “an excellent guide for the South Asian user of the English language.” Shakil has twice spoken at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., and has conducted numerous workshops on communication, writing, and critical thinking. He is a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and served as President of the Progressive Writers' Association, Islamabad, from 2021 to 2022. He has attended Rotary’s annual conventions in Toronto and Hamburg. These are some of his notable interviews: 👉 Sardar Masood Khan, former president, AJK, Part 1: https://youtu.be/h0jFAudsDuM 👉 Sardar Masood Khan, former president, AJK, Part 2: https://youtu.be/0esgmmI8XGE 👉 Ambassador Abdul Basit: https://youtu.be/qxWeiIzwskI 👉 Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani: https://youtu.be/x3mdfAklix0 👉 Shahid Siddiqui, a former member of India’s parliament: https://youtu.be/hRDiEe90z6Y You’re welcome to follow him on Facebook and Twitter. 👉 https://www.facebook.com/shakil.chaudary 👉 https://twitter.com/ShakChaudhary