PejaMistri is dead! Death of social media activism in Pakistan: As evident from the title, this is pejamistri’s last post and last activism through social media (twitter, facebook, criticalppp, pkpolitics and many other blogs and websites on Pakistani politics). PejaMistri has died after severe heart attack on account the

Dr A Q Khan appreciates LUBP’s services for sectarian harmony in Pakistan – by Ali Taj: Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan’s nuclear scientist and the founder-chairman of the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Pakistan (Movement for the Protection of Pakistan), has appreciated LUBP’s services for Sunni-Shia sectarian harmony. Dr. Khan also lauded LUBP’s (Let Us Build Pakistan www.lubpak.com) activism and

Abdul Nishapuri’s resignation from LUBP: We have now received formal resignation from Mr. Abdul Nishapuri, founder-editor of LUBP. On his wish we are publishing the same as his last post on this blog. “I am forced to resign from LUBP because of serious threats

On Altafism, Sufi folklore and Nadeem Paracha’s adoration of the MQM: Nadeem Farooq Paracha, noted left-liberal Pakistani columnist and satirist, is viewed by some in Pakistan’s limited English speaking circles as a prominent authority on the history of Pakistani culture and society. For the younger generation, Mr Paracha came into

New header on LUBP: New header (Green background with crescent and star) on LUBP is to dispel the impression that we are an official blog of the PPP. LUBP has always been a voluntary project comprising supporters of the PPP and other progressive

Deeply bitten by your liberality – by Zainab Binte Ali: Plato, the totalitarian, out of passion and prejudice hushed Democritus to strangulate the spirit of progress, evolution and above all democracy. Ali abbas Jalalpuri must have been working with darbar in Jalalpur if he had paid heed to the

Criticism of LUBP, let the readers decide: We are pleased to publish the following criticism by noted “liberals” on LUBP. We welcome critical comments and leave it to our readers’ discretion to decide whether the criticism levelled on LUBP is fair and justified.

“Get’em through Interpol”, whispers Beena Sarwar to Rehman Malik – by Ismail Effendi: Recently, two Pakistani bloggers who are based in North America have informed me that noted “liberal” activist and coordinator of Jang Group’s Aman Ki Asha project, Beena Sarwar, is running a concerted campaign to locate and harass bloggers associated

Did Ali Dayan Hasan (of HRW) recant statement against ISI?: The newly appointed Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) may have attained an understated and unsung victory for his intelligence agency considering the recent and highly surprising statement by Human Rights Watch’s Pakistan head Ali Dayan Hasan that

The Shia-Hazaras of Quetta are grateful to LUBP – by Anwar Changezi: I want to reassure the dear friends at LUBP that the Shia Hazaras of Quetta are grateful to you. I came to know about your work only recently, but as I checked your archives and matched them with the

Four years of LUBP in Pakistan social media: Dear LUBPians, Once again, a big THANK YOU for your ongoing support to the LUBP project. This post marks LUBP foundation day (21 May 2008). Four years ago, on 21 May 2008, I was approached by a couple of

RIP Fauzia Wahab: LUBP editors are extremely saddened to learn about the untimely death of Pakistan Peoples Party’s senior leader Fauzia Wahab. Through this post, we wish to convey our sincerest condolences to her family and millions of fans and supporters within

Farhad Jarral owes me an apology – by Ravez Junejo: June 13, 2012: I log on to my Facebook account and find a message in my inbox. It’s from a man whom I know from his Facebook profile (let’s call him Abdul Basit Chaudhry aka ABC). He asked me

In response of LUBP’s ‘Raza Rumi and Marvi Sirmed join notorious Jinnah Institute’ – by Farhad Jarral:                     This post is not favoring anyone but contains some facts which were misquoted by the LUBP in earlier post ‘Raza Rumi and Marvi Sirmed join notorious Jinnah Institute’. Marvi

LUBP being bullied by Pakistan’s “fake liberal” elite for its coverage of Shia genocide: Related article: Vague HRCP statement fails to address Ongoing Shia Genocide – By Anwar Changezi and one response for LUBP’s policy of covering Shia Genocide and countering deliberate media distortion The hate campaign by fake bloggers (LUBP): whose agenda they

Pakistani Taliban join Twitter, threaten rights activists: Apparently Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has made a Twitter account (@TehreekeTaliban) for their Jihadi-sectarian propaganda on social media and also to harass their perceived opponents. While we have no means to confirm the genuineness of this account, the tweets so

Dear LUBP, Please stop this undue criticism of Sherry Rehman! – by Ailia Zehra: A popular Pakistani blog, Let us Build Pakistan (LUBP) describes itself as “critical PPP”. Recently, this blog has posted some articles against Ms. Sherry Rehman who was a close aide of Former prime minister Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. In one

LUBP exposed: Mahdi Army Terrorists – by International Professor: Related post: Who is international professor? Editor’s note: Our long-time friend Earthman also known as International Professor has written yet another critical article on LUBP “exposing” our editors and authors’ secret connections with Mahdi Army terrorists. LUBP readers will recall that previously

The real agenda of LUBP fascists: On PPP’s attack on Sherry Rehman’s house – by Ali K. Chishti: We are cross-posting this old article (originally published on Pak Tea House on November 8th, 2010) for archiving purposes. Written by Mr. Ali K. Chishti, the original title of the article “The real agenda of LUBP Fascists” was later

Lifestyle Liberals and Political Liberals: Is LUBP a hurdle in the way of unity of liberals?: Related posts: Deconstructing Pakistani liberals: A response to Shashi Tharoor and Raza Rumi Censorship tactics and the ‘unity of liberals’ – by Alamdar Mengal The liberal fiasco in Pakistan – by Suleman Akhtar ****** I was motivated to write

On LUBP’s apology to Najam Sethi club: Why can’t we respect free speech even if we disagree? – by Salma Jafar: The national media in Pakistan has become too sordid and boring despite the freedom it had to turn itself into credibility amongst its audience; apparently it has lost it. Because people like me no more watch the talk shows

LUBP must not consciously malign Najam Sethi – Comments by Shaheryar Ali and Mehmal Sarfraz: Editor’s note: LUBP has received some critical comments on Laibaah’s post titled “Najam Sethi’s role in the Baloch resistance movement of 1970s” and also via Twitter which suggest that the assertions in that post about Mr. Sethi’s role in

Laal against religious extremism and terrorism: LUBP is pleased to publish the following lecture (video) and the associated talk by Dr. Taimur Rahman which presents Laal’s brave, principled stance on religious extremism and terrorism in Pakistan and the wider region: (pt1) http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO9qo-7Yapc (pt2) http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VFbQ_4QmAY (pt3)

RIP Hamid Akhtar:     LUBP Editors express their profound grief over the demise of Hamid Akhtar, veteran progressive scholar, activist and columnist. In the last few years, we have always supported, valued and published Mr. Akhtar’s bold columns which were originally

The Significance of the Anwar al-Awlaki Killing – by Rusty Walker: The recent Predator strike against American-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki has more significance than many in the press have given it. Even accounts on al-Jazeera quickly dismiss any change in al Qaeda threat. Fair enough, we should all still be

Censorship tactics and the ‘unity of liberals’ – by Alamdar Mengal:  LUBP editors, writers and supporters are often harassed and falsely accused for engaging in personal attacks, abuse, ISI-tagging and using pen names. Such accusations are also hurled at other bloggers and writers who take a bold, anti-establishment stance (e.g.

LUBP website maintenance: Announcement LUBP website (www.lubpak.com) will be down for necessary maintenance for a few hours today, Thursday, 1 September 2011, 4:00PM USA Eastern Time, which is equivalent to Friday, 2 September 2011, 1:00AM Pakistan Time. Please do not post any

Human rights activist @Laibaah silenced by Urban Elite Tweeples – by Alamdar Ahmad Mengal: Editor’s Disclaimer: While we may not agree with some of the contentions offered in this post, we wholeheartedly support the principle of Free Speech and condemn those fascists who ganged up to silence Laiba Marri’s voice on Twitter ……….

LUBP Interview with Amna Paracha: Related : Revisiting Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s trial – by Amna Paracha Amna Paracha was Begum Nusrat Bhutto’s political secretary through the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s trial. Her husband (late) Saleem Zulfiqar Khan was on the original defence bench. Mr Khan was

Social media and Pakistan: prospects and possibilities – by Raza Rumi: Related post: LUBP agenda, visitor stats and the way forward When I started to blog, almost by accident, a few Pakistani bloggers were found in cyberspace. Within half a decade the number has multiplied beyond belief. From the senior

LUBP must stop defending Zardari League (ZPPP) – by Laibaah: As things stand now, your defense of the Zardari league that PPP has become is very disappointing. I have been following your blog for some time and and have even emailed and DMed my views to your editors and

LUBP, the hate blog! – by Chuqandar Khan: Related articles: Let Us Build Pakistan (LUBP) exposed – by Earthman, International Professor An open letter to LUBP – by Samad Khurram Critical article on ‘Let us build Pakistan’ – by Syed Adeeb LUBP agenda, visitor stats and the

Are we building abusive Pakistan? – by Ahsan Abbas Shah:

Comment moderation at LUBP and elsewhere – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi: The LUBP editors and authors come under some sort of slack over the last few weeks for allegedly “character assassinating potential allies” (who we consider as back-stabbers) and “inciting killing civil society members” (who we consider as Fake Civil

Salman Taseer – Another Victim of Islamofacsim: LUBP interviews Tarek Fatah: Author, journalist, ad man, technical writer, political activist and family man, Tarek Fatah stands as a prominent opponent of Islamofascism today.  From confronting the IJT thugs of Karachi University in the late 1960s to taking on the lobbyists of

LUBP Interview with Olaf Kellerhoff, Resident Representative Pakistan at Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom: Related Interviews:   LUBP Exclusive: A critical interview with Nadeem F. Paracha LUBP Interview with Kamran Shafi LUBP Interview with Dr Ayesha Siddiqa (Part I) LUBP Interview with Dr Ayesha Siddiqa (Part II)   Brief Introduction: LUBP is pleased

LUBP Interview with Dr Ayesha Siddiqa (Part I): Previous LUBP Interviews with Nadeem F Paracha with Kamran Shafi Introduction LUBP is pleased to present an exclusive interview with Pakistan’s leading political commentator and military analyst, Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa. Dr. Siddiqa is a regular op-ed contributor to leading

LUBP Interview with Kamran Shafi: Related article: LUBP Exclusive: A critical interview with Nadeem F. Paracha LUBP is pleased to publish an exclusive interview with Kamran Shafi, one of the boldest voices in Pakistani media particularly because of his courage to write against the

LUBP agenda, visitor stats and the way forward: Dear LUBPians, First of all, a big THANK YOU for your ongoing support to the LUBP project. Here is an update on LUBP visitor statistics which you may find reassuring. In the last two months alone (Oct-Nov 2010), we

LUBP Exclusive: A critical interview with Nadeem F. Paracha: Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com. Here is his exclusive interview for LUBP, which is being published as the first interview in the LUBP Critical Interview Series. LUBP: Nadeem, thanks