Author Archive
Say No to Martial Law – by Hamid Mir: زیادہ پرانی بات نہیں۔ 27/اگست 2005ء کو امریکی ریاست لوسیانا کے ساحلوں پر ایک سمندری طوفان کا آغاز ہوا۔ سمندر کا پانی ساحلوں سے نکل کر شہروں میں داخل ہوگیا زیادہ نقصان لوسیانا، مسی سیپی اور فلوریڈا میں ہوا۔
Post-deluge efforts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – by Idrees Kamal: The monsoon flood has badly devastated the entire Pakistan in general and the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA in particular. These remarks were made by Arshad Haroon, regional Head of SPO and member of Network for Humanitarian Assistance
Altaf Hussain: Pakistan’s prize bluffer —by Dr Mohammad Taqi: “Mussolini is the biggest bluffer in Europe. If Mussolini had me taken out and shot tomorrow morning, I would still regard him as a bluff. Get a hold of a good photo of Signor Mussolini sometime and study it.
Another Martial Law? – by Omar Ali: Pakistan is in the grip of one of its periodic eruptions of speculation about impending martial law, or at least, it looks like that on TV. For weeks, the largest news channel in the country has been shamelessly promoting
Pakistan flood victims ‘have no concept of terrorism’ – by Mohammad Hanif: Three weeks after the start of the floods in Pakistan, a fifth of the country is under water. More international aid is now reaching the country – but the world’s media finds it hard to stop talking about terrorism.
Editorials: On Altaf Husain’s appeal for a “martial law-like” intervention: Dailytimes: Marching towards tyranny, again? Altaf Hussain, chief of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), has appealed for a “martial law-like” intervention by “patriotic generals” against “corrupt feudals and landlord politicians”. Coming from someone whose party is known for its
Denialistan: DAWN’s romance with jihadis exposed – by Nasima Zehra Awan: Nasima Zehra Awan laments the media romances with sectarian Islamists while the country drowns The August 21st editorial by DAWN is a good example of what is wrong with the media in Pakistan. “Hardliners and Flood Relief” is precisely
LUBP condemns political killings: Brother of the ANP MNA shot dead: Asif Khan, a city Govt. Karachi officer and Brother of ANP MNA from Sawabi Pervez is brutally killed in a target killing attempt by the unknown assassins last evening. After the shocking incident violance erupted at various places resulting
Accepting foreign help — by Ishtiaq Ahmed: In an interview given to Lyse Doucet of the BBC and shown on August 16, 2010, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi pleaded passionately for help from the international community for the unprecedented monsoon floods that are wreaking havoc in
Talibanisation of the heart — by Dr. Abbas Zaidi: Dr. Abbas Zaidi has shared this intellectual piece with us for LUBP. A slightly edited version is published in Dailytimes today, we have posted it earlier from the newspaper, Now we are replacing it with the complete, unedited and
Daughters of Al Huda: A Farhat Hasmi enteprise – by Khaled Ahmed: We are wrong to look for terrorist tracts in the madrassa. The suicide bomber is not made through syllabi but through isolation from society. When we wish to produce a normal citizen we begin by socialising the child. Anyone
Free limits – By Nadeem F. Paracha: What on earth is ‘freedom of speech?’ This question has been raised on various TV channels, in the newspapers and on internet forums in Pakistan after some channels were sent spinning off the air, allegedly by ‘hooligans’ on the
Looking beyond the calamity – by Imtiaz Alam: Indeed the natural and no less man-made calamity of the floods is still continuing across Pakistan. The scale of devastation is so horrendously huge and still so incalculable that no government or agency of any capacity could cope with
Sindh: Homeless, hapless and helpless – by Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur: A relative who resides in Karachi recently advised obtaining national identity cards from Karachi. His logic? “Passports may soon be needed for travel to Karachi.” I regarded this as an ominous warning though others brushed it off as a
Relief work and politics – by Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi: Pakistan has been experiencing devastating floods for the last three weeks. In a week’s time the water will start falling into the Arabian Sea, which will be the beginning of the end of the floods. However, the devastation and
Pakistan’s Future: It’s choice–not chance – by Bilal Qureshi: For my mental health, I never watch Pakistani television, be it state run or the so-called ‘private’ channels. And if I am forced for whatever reason to put up with it for an hour or so, it is, and
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
Importance of a robust peoples’ movement in Punjab against the Punjabi Ruling Elite – by Asim Jaan: I wrote this in response to the recent heinous killings of Punjabis travelling on a bus near Sibbi in particular and the general racial hatred being carried out in Pakistan. I strongly condemn the killing, not only this incident but all
We did not do it – by Gulmina Bilal Ahmad: We are a people blessed with time but a country for which time is running short. Clarity is a rare commodity; clarity in terms of our actions, our thinking, judicious dispensation of aid and even our worldviews.I had written
Help the secular, or face the extremists – by Daud Khattak: Fear of targeted killing by the Taliban knocking at the door of Peshawar has forced the leadership of key secular parties to stay inside, thus providing an open field to the religious and pro-Taliban elements to win the hearts
We must have answers – By Kamran Shafi: An appeal has been made to My Lord the Chief Justice of Pakistan by 10 eminent citizens, in the following words. “An appeal by the citizens of Pakistan: Request to scrutinise the five-year tax returns, declaration of assets and
Review Zakir Majeed Baloch’s abduction and illegal detention- by Ali Baloch: When on 8th of June, 2009 Mr. Zakir Majeed, Visce Chairman BSO(Azad) were accompanied along with his friends Mr. Waheed And Mr. Basit were on way proceeding from Parangabad market to his friend Mr. Abdul Waheed house situated at
“Pakistan has to shift its strategic focus”, Prof Walter Russel Mead: LAHORE, Aug 14: Pakistan should move away from the zero-sum security rivalry with India to be able to emerge as a successful, modern democratic society, says a distinguished American foreign policy expert. “It is vital for Pakistan to shift
Why the world is not reacting- by Muhammad Hanif: ہر ایک کے ہونٹوں پر ایک ہی سوال ہے۔ اس صدی کا سب سے بڑا قدرتی عذاب، دو کروڑ انسان شکار، ستر لاکھ بچے بھوک اور بیماری کا شکار تو دنیا کا دل کیوں نہیں پسیجا۔ عالمی برادری نے
The river beyond- by Dr Mohammad Taqi: It may sound like a cliché but the late Munir Niazi’s words ring truer today than ever before: “Ik aur darya ka samna tha Munir mujh ko, Mein aik darya kay paar utra to mein ne dekha.” The translation
Floods and the Existential Threat – by Adnan Sayed: The existential threat comes from disowning the democratic structure, giving up on it and looking yet again for another instant messiah in face of tremendous adversity and hopelessness. We were wrong in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1990s when
Jinnah’s Pakistan- by Dr Mubarak Ali: It has become a ritual to celebrate Independence Day every year without considering whether we have achieved it or not. The question is how far independence has accomplished its objective by creating historical consciousness among people: whether it has
Hats off to the political leadership- By Raja Riaz: LAHORE: Kudos! The main leaders of the PPP and the PML-N have shown maturity by shunning their differences and joining hands to help the flood victims in all federating units of the country. Hats off to Prime Minister Yousaf
Mad in the middle- By Nadeem F. Paracha: The political and social aspects of Islam in Pakistan can be seen as existing in and emerging from three distinct clusters of thought. These clusters represent the three variations of political and social Islam that have evolved in
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
This 14th August can change the scenario- by Muhammad Amjad Rashid: 63 years have been completed today but still there is a process of nation building in Pakistan. Korea & China started their race of progress and prosperity in global world some years after us but they have passed us
Pakistani Floods Affect Millions, But Level Of International Aid Pitiful- By Vilani Peiris: With monsoonal rains continuing, the worst flooding in Pakistan in 80 years is still spreading. Pakistani relief organisations and government agencies are stretched to the limit. Yet despite urgent appeals from the UN and other aid organisations, the level
Good and Bad Taliban: Attack on Women Doctors: Violence against the women in the whole region is not strange thing. But when it comes to Taliban and their brutalities against the women, denial prevails, arguments are given that Taliban do not attack women etc etc. When BiBi
The man who really matters in Pakistan – by Farzana Shaikh: Whatever David Cameron may say, looking both ways is by no means peculiar to Pakistan. For while Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has looked the other way as his country drowns in the worst floods in living memory, the
Rewarding hate – by Nadeem F. Paracha: The more mischievous among us even prayed to the Almighty to let the Saudis fall in love with this eminent ‘Islamic scholar’ and fund his outlandish theories, leaving television viewers ever so grateful for keeping him there. But, alas,
Friedman and Pakistan-bashing- by Yasser Latif Hamdani: Oscar Wilde once described patriotism as “the virtue of the vicious”. In the many articles published in this newspaper, I have tried to steer clear of the vicious kind of narrow chest-thumping patriotism, preferring Benjamin Franklin’s version instead —
Fatima Bhutto: please focus on fiction- by Nasima Zehra Awan: Pakistan may have lost a talented fiction writer when Fatima Bhutto went into journalism. Clearly, she is adept at spinning a tale, fudging facts and re-defining reality in a manner that is the exclusive domain of talented story tellers.
The False Bravado shown at Birmingham- by Chauhdry Ahmad Khan: Objective and constructive criticism is the cornerstone of secular liberal democracies. In that regard, those who have disagree with the current Pakistani president’s trip to the UK have the right to express their protest at what they perceive is