Author Archive
Taliban / Sipah-e-Sahaba terrorists kidnap 60 women, men and children in Kurram: Taliban/Sipah-e-Sahaba militants Saturday (15 May 2010) kidnapped about 60 people in northwest Pakistan, a region beset by militant and sectarian violence, a senior government official said. The hostages were traveling from Peshawar city to Parachinar, the main town in
Can’t read Urdu (or English) articles on LUBP? Here is a useful tool: For quite some time, some of the LUBP visitors have been requesting for an English (or Urdu) translation of articles published on the LUBP. Now it has surfaced that a quick, interim solution is possible, courtesy Google Translate. Try
Where are you Mr President? People of Hunza need your help: Hunza lake update 15 May 2010 Compiled by: Abdul Nishapuri Three more towns were inundated Friday due to rising water level in Ataabad lake. Traffic remains suspended on Karakoram Highway since two days. Hunza Deputy Commissioner Nagar Waqar Taj
The enemy within: A student holds up a threatening letter, sent to the school by members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, at the Girls High School in Kali Shekhan, Quetta. (Source)
Kashf Foundation: Making the impossible possible – by Kalsoom Lakhani: In 1996, the Kashf Foundation became Pakistan’s first microfinance institution, empowering both women and families in an attempt to replicate the Grameen Bank model. Today, 14 years later, Kashf has 152 branches nationwide, boasts 305,938 supported families, and operates
Multiple dimensions of the Hunza disaster — by Dr Shahid Siddiqui: The most painful part of the issue was the downplaying of the disaster by the federal and local authorities. They tried to create the impression that everything was either all right or under control. The reality, however, was just
A specimen of Shahbaz Sharif’s good governance in Punjab: Man sets himself on fire in front of CM’s complaint cell: Man sets himself on fire in front of Punjab CM’s complaint cell * Mehmood Akhtar sought financial help from provincial government only to be humiliated, beaten up * Faisalabad DCO ignored Mehmood’s requests for help * Nawaz calls for
Babar Awan hazir ho – by Dr Khawaja Muhammad Awais Khalil: بابر اعوان حاضر ہو کافی دنوں سے اس ملک میں یہ بات میڈیا کے ذریع پھیلائی جا رہی ہے کے جیسسے اس ملک میں ایک فرشتہ سففت عدلیہ نے جنم لے لیا ہے. اور اس کا کیا ہوا ہر
Secret audio tape of Hamid Mir’s conversation with a Punjabi Talib associate of Hakimullah Mehsud: Note: It is pertinent to mention that the audio conversation presented in this post appears to be an intentional leak by the Punjabi Taliban or the ISI (first posted on the ISI fan page on facebook). While the exact
Meet the hip-liberals: Cultural dynamics of Pakistan fashion industry – by Nadeem Paracha: I have never been able to understand the cultural dynamics of what is called the Pakistan fashion industry, particularly the notion of holding ‘fashion weeks’ which, at least to me, seem to last for months. There is nothing new
Who killed Benazir Bhutto? Who really is Qari Saifullah Akhtar? – by Yousuf Nazar: Pakistani police officers assist injured militant commander Qari Saifullah Akhtar, centre face covered, as he exits following a court appearance in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 2007 (Photo source) Source: State of Pakistan The following was originally published on February 17,
Balochistan farmers’ protest: While the prime minister was having a meeting with provincial chief ministers to review the success of the energy conservation strategy, farmers in Balochistan observed a province-wide wheel-jam strike to protest electricity load shedding on the call of the
True democracy in Pakistan can prevent extremism – by Dr Majjida Ahmed: Mr Seth Oldmixon has brought to our attention a new column by Dr. Majjida Ahmed, a founding member of Americans for Democracy & Justice in Pakistan published today in Daily Caller. The column, ‘True democracy in Pakistan can prevent
Thousands face displacement in Hunza if lake bursts its banks – IRIN Report: Thousands face displacement if lake bursts its banks The new lake on the Hunza River ISLAMABAD, 10 May 2010 (IRIN) – Flooding caused by an overflowing lake, formed after a landslide blocked the River Hunza in northern Pakistan in
An open letter to LUBP – by Samad Khurram: Mr Samad Khurram has sent a critical note lamenting what he describes as the dropping standards of the LUBP blog, and also suggesting that the LUBP be renamed as “the desperate jiyala portal as the agenda clearly is that
Paths of terrorism lead but to Pakistan – by Ardeshir Cowasjee: “Can some bright psychologist work out why Faisal Shahzad, a college graduate, son of a Pakistani air force officer, married with two children, was prompted to do what he did on May Day?” – Photo by AP. The adoption
Some excerpts from Justice Khawaja Sharif’s books – by Kamran Shahid: Kamran Shahid quotes some excerpts from Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif’s books in which he expresses his relationship with and gratitude to Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif. Source: Express 8 May 2010
Faisal Shahzad’s anti-Americanism – by Pervez Hoodbhoy: The man who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square was a Pakistani. Why is this unsurprising? Because when you hold a burning match to a gasoline tank, the laws of chemistry demand combustion. As anti-US
Kamran Shafi in Dr Shahid Masood’s talkshow: The Jang Group (Geo TV, Jang, The News) is widely known for its pro-establishment and anti-democracy (anti-politicians) style of journalism. In particular, certain yellow journalists of the Jang Group (namely Ansar Abbasi, Dr Shahid Masood, Shakeel Anjum, Muhammad Ahmed
Asif Ezdi: Establishment’s latest weapon against politicians and democracy: Asif Ezdi (whose columns appear in notorious Jang Group / The News indeed) has surfaced as the establishment’s latest tool in its war against politicians and democracy in Pakistan. Pakistan Media Watch has written an article on Mr Ezdi,
The Final Solution – by Tariq Saeedi: Just in case our readers haven’t seen the following articles by Tariq Saeedi et al (News Central Asia), presenting an extensive investigative (and speculative) assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the broader region, we encourage our readers
The PPP government’s new labour policy 2010 – by Abdul Nishapuri: Consistent with its election manifesto, the PPP government has finally taken a step in the right direction by announcing a new labour policy (effective 1 June 2010). The policy comprises a number of appreciable elements in order to protect
Javed Hashmi vs Amin Fahim – by Muhammad Amjad Rashid: It is a common thought in Pakistan that both the big political parties of Pakistan have not done good with their 2nd tier leadership who were running the parties during the Musharraf’s reign when the top leadership of both
Pakistan will not be the first to use nuclear weapons against India – by Hussain Bux Mallah: Zulifqar Ali Bhutto was the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear programme when he was a federal minister for fuel, power and natural resources during Ayub Khan’s government. He continued the nuclear programme as President and then Prime Minister of Pakistan
Did Rehman Malik and Babar Awan kill Benazir Bhutto?: After the indictment of General Pervez Musharraf and some of his cronies in Pakistan’s military and civil establishment by the UN Commission, certain agents of the establishment in Pakistani media and politics have become active in their traditional diversion
Target killing of Professor Nazima Talib Mehdi: Shame on BLA terrorists. Where are your Baloch traditions?: Only a few days ago, the LUBP published a detailed account of target killings of intellectuals, bureaucrats, security personnel, educationists, politicians, particularly of non-Baloch origin, by terrorists of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other sectarian/jihadi groups. Today is a
Islami nizam – by Wahiduddin Khan: Here is another article by Moulana Waheedudeen khan on Islami Nizam. Contributed by: Farhan Qaisar
Children as domestic workers — by Syed Mohammad Ali: Our parliamentarians need to show the will to act and bring domestic child labour within the ambit of the law. However, the fact that many of them also continue to employ children in their rural and urban homes is
Political interpretation of religion – by Wahiduddin Khan: Introduction (adapted from Yoginder Sikand’s article in Milli Gazette) Coming to terms with the challenges of modernity has been a major concern of many Muslim scholars and Islamic activists. How can Islam as a universal ideology be expressed in
Economic Restructuring in Pakistan – by Atif Abbas: The LUBP is pleased to share with our readers a research paper written by Atif Abbas (Insaf Research Wing) on economic restructuring in Pakistan. The research paper was first published at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) official website: Link: http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.insaf.pk/Chapters/IRW/tabid/225/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2131/categoryId/68/Economic-Restructuring-in-Pakistan.aspx
Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic lllusion of an Islamic State – by Tarek Fatah: The LUBP is pleased to present for the benefit of our readers a PDF of Tarek Fatah’s book Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic lllusion of an Islamic State (2008). The book is dedicated to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and Daniel
Make new provinces only on administrative grounds?: By Abdul Nishapuri Source: Saraiki Waseb Development Organization (SWADO) In today’s The News, I read an interesting article on the possibility of new provinces by Saleem Safi. It seems that after months and years of effectively campaigning for the
Shaheen Sehabi Explains What It Means To “Have No Shame”: Source: Pakistan Media Watch Amir Mateen’s attempt a script writing seems to have disappointed ‘The Godfather’ of wild storylines, Amir’s mentor Shaheen Sehbai. In today’s The News (23 Apr 2010), Sehbai shows Mateen how to really write an attack column. Sehbai’s column targets his
Short March to Despotism – by Asad Sayeed: Asad Sayeed’s timely article highlights the dangerous path being currently coursed by the country’s Judiciary where the mandate of 170 million people is not considered more important than the political vendetta of the establishment. Short March to Despotism For
From the Battle of Algiers to the Baloch Resistance – by Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur: Winning the Battle of Algiers If brutal crackdowns and search operations of suspected areas had any success in deterring people from struggling for their national, political, social and economic rights, Algeria would still have been a French colony Jeehamd
Faisal Raza Abidi vs Masood Sharif Khattak: I don’t want to comment on the ‘public’ confrontation between Senator Faisal Raza Abidi and Masood Sharif Khattak. Provided below is their respective article / position which is self-explanatory. Masood making false claims: Abidi Thursday, April 22, 2010 ISLAMABAD:
From jihad to ijtihad – by Asghar Ali Engineer: ‘JIHAD’, with its imbued wrong meaning, became a notorious word in the West after 9/11. Terror now has an overwhelming presence in parts of the Muslim world, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. Violence there seems at times to be
Contra Sufism – by Aziz Ali Dad: “People know what they do; frequently they know why they do what they do; but what they don’t know is what what they do does.” -Michel Foucault Amar Jaleel wrote a wonderful article ‘Antithesis of Sufism’ in this newspaper on
In defence of Punjabis: Stop target killing of Punjabi settlers in Balochistan – by Abdul Nishapuri: Update: Target killing of Professor Nazima Talib Mehdi: Shame on BLA terrorists. Where are your Baloch traditions? The Punjabi scapegoat It is common practice in the (so called) leftist and progressive circles of Pakistan to blame Punjab for all