Not unlike Benazir Bhutto, Governor Taseer was martyred because of his belief in a secular and democratic Pakistan – by Rusty Walker: About the author: Rusty Walker is an educator, author, political commentator, ex-military, from a military family, retired college professor, former Provost (Collins College, U.S.A.), artist, musician and family man. Rusty Walker is an ardent supporter of Pakistan. The Tragic
The conflict within – by Eqbal Ahmad: Once religion becomes a hard political currency it has to be deployed in the political arena by means fair and foul. Those aspirants in politics who lack other political capital - large land holdings , modern education, industry, family
The Conservatively Hip – by Ayesha Siddiqa: Why are more youth, especially among the relatively affluent segments of society, embracing a greater religious identity and conservatism related to it? Why is it that we find an increasing number of young men and women among the upper-middle
Basic structure myth – By Yasser Latif Hamdani: Thank heavens the apex court in our country has shied away from answering the question of basic structure and binding, as it were, the dreams and aspirations of the future generations of this great state of ours to what
The Statesman Editorial: Jinnah Was right: JINNAH’S famous address on 11 August 1947 to Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly was supposed to lay the secular foundations for a future Constitution of the country. Jinnah, after all, firmly supported equality of religions and the freedom to practise them
Secularism Debate: A fallacious binary – by Saqlain Imam: The word secularism seems to be the most contentious one in the Pakistani political culture. Anything that is anti-religion or non-religious is dubbed secular; it is understood as a Western concept with no direct connection with Islam; for example,
Taliban: An anathema to Pashtun Nationalism – By Ali Arqam: Antonio Gramsci, an Italian (1891-1937) Marxist thinker, has defined the term hegemony as “the predominance of one social class over others (e.g. bourgeois hegemony). This represents not only political and economic control, but also the ability of the dominant
Why is CJP Afraid of Secularism? – by The Baloch Hal: The Chief Justice of Pakistan Mr. Justice Ifthakar Chaudhary, who was reinstated to his top position after rigorous anti-dictatorship efforts of champions of democracy and pluralism, has stunned everyone with his recent remarks against the Parliament and secularism. The
Chief Justice vs. Straw Man: According to its website, the Supreme Court is “the Court of ultimate appeal and therefore final arbiter of law and the Constitution. It exercises original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Its judgments/decisions are binding on all other courts in the country”.
Why Muslims reject modernity- by Khaled Ahmed: Today, nothing negates modernity more than jihad. It undermines the nation-state, and destroys the state that organises it. The scattering of the Pakistani state is owed to it. It is often said that Muslims in the 21st century have
Is LUBP an anti-religion blog? – by Sarah Khan: Lately it has been suggested by a few commentators on this blog, forum and elsewhere that the LUBP is a blog critical of Islam (or religion, in general), and has a la-deen (wrong translation of secular) orientation. Nothing could
Syria’s niqab ban is part of a clash within Islam itself: with thanks : Guardian Far from the heated debates of Europe, Syria has banned the niqab in classrooms, adding another layer to this complex story. Quietly, away from the fanfare that accompanied the French vote on banning the niqab in public, and
Are you ashamed of being secular? – by Ahmad Nadeem Gehla: LUBP Exclusive on BB’s birthday Social media is playing a vital role as a medium of communication which promotes critical thinking, sharing of new ideas and tolerance for dissenting opinions. Critical thinking includes identification of prejudice, propaganda, deception, distortion
Is the Koran a constitution? – by Dr. Abbas Zaidi: One of our dearest friends, writer and intellectual Dr. Abbas Zaidi has on the LUBP team’s request, exclusively written this well argued piece for our readers. I on behalf of LUBP am grateful to him for sharing his efforts with us, and
Pashtun nationalism — by Dr Manzur Ejaz: Most of the time, secular Pashtun nationalists have highlighted their economic deprivation. But if the Pashtuns’ share in the army, the bureaucracy and the economy in Pakistan is higher than the proportion of their population, such an argument becomes
Do we need secularism? — by Dr Khalil Ahmad: For Libertarians, religious freedom is an inseparable part of this natural personal freedom that the Constitution of 1973 so purposefully protects. Protecting religious freedom as a fundamental right is not only morally, spiritually, and intellectually of greater merit but