Author Archive
Pakistan’s first international social media summit: Pakistan has over 3 million social journalists and the number is increasing with the passage of every day with 6.2 million users on microblogging site Twitter and over 4 million social network Facebook users already. This was observed by
Are they free to go to their temples? -by Saria Benazir: Pakistan was envisioned as a progressive, democratic and tolerant society, which, while retaining a Muslim majority, would give equal rights to its non-Muslim citizens. Without calling it a secular state, Jinnah and his modernist Muslim colleagues believed that Pakistan
Mainstream media and talk shows ignore minorities: A very good and encouraging news indeed that minister of minorities Kamran Michael has been reinstated as the Finance Minister in the Punjab Cabinet and, now, he will address the budget speech in the Punjab Assembly house on Friday,
In Punjab, a Christian can’t present the provincial budget: LAHORE: Several provincial legislators in Punjab belonging to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have objected to Punjab cabinet member Kamran Michael presenting the budget on grounds that he is Christian, sources within the party told The Express Tribune.
Rights of the children in Pakistan -by Saria Benazir: Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 12 November 1990, making a reservation on interpreting its provisions following the principles of Islamic laws and values. In 1997 Pakistan decided to withdraw its reservation, which marks
God is not a Christian: The following is excerpted from the Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s new book, ‘God Is Not A Christian: And Other Provocations.’ This talk also comes from a forum in Britain, where Tutu addressed leaders of different faiths during a mission to
You can bury a man but not his courage -by Shehrbano Taseer: This article was originally published in the “Daily Express“
Syed Saleem Shahzad’s Courage: The Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad knew he was a marked man. Mr. Shahzad, who covered national security and terrorism, had received repeated threats from Pakistan’s powerful spy agency. Yet he courageously kept doing his job — until somebody
Faith in minorities as equals can only strengthen Pakistan: By Adnan Rehmat The primary function of a national constitution is to guarantee universal rights and to ensure all citizens of the state are dealt with equally in terms of these rights. The guarantees are supposed to be unambiguous.
Punjab: Impunity for rape, abduction and forced conversion of Christian and Hindu girls: Editor’s Note: For how long must our fellow Pakistanis be subjected to these horrors just because they don’t share the faith of the majority. The right to practice one’s faith freely is the fundemental right in democracies and is
Shehrbano Taseer in UK speaks out against radical political Islam: by Lizzy Millar Religious seminaries Madarash in Pakistan are raising a new generation of children to propagate hatred in the wake of bin Laden’s assassination. Shehrbano Taseer, the daughter of Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab region who
A tribute to R.I.P Hakim Ali Zardari: Hakim Ali Zardari, father of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, died yesterday after a protracted illness at the age of 81. He breathed his last at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad where he had been under
Dare to hear the facts before you criticize Bilawal -by Sara Benazir: Criticism is not only defined as the judgment of merits and faults of the work or action done by someone but also defined as the study, evaluation and interpretation. Goal of this criticism is to understand thoroughly. Normally when
Roots of our intolerance -by Khaled Ahmed: Pakistan is worried about the rising intolerance in its society. It is a collective version of hate, but is a natural human instinct at the level of the individual. If someone hurts you, it will be your natural response
Pakistan: The Troubles Continue -by Sybil Daniel: In August 2009, a mob of religious bigots took seven lives in Gojra, Pakistan, which has a Christian minority, and the whole village was set ablaze. This violent act continued for five hours and busloads of people joined the
Attacked or driven out from their homes: the trampled rights of Christians in Punjab: Two Christian nurses were seized and beaten for nine hours by an official of the Muslim Fatima Hospital in Lahore (Punjab), a wealthy Muslim landowner, with a history in politics, usurped the land and the houses of two Christian
India: Christian journalist appointed to lower castes and minority programme monitoring body: A.J. Philip joins the Assessment and Monitoring Authority, which looks at government programmes for backward classes and minorities. Through him, the needs of the poor will be heard, priest says. New Delhi – A.J. Philip, a well-known Christian journalist
Isolationistan: Pakistani Parliament’s recent sovereignty-obsessed-resolution clearly illustrates power of the establishment in an important arena of domestic and foreign policy making. The resolution also manifests the unwillingness of our real decision makers to permit change in our military dominated, flawed
Dr Johnson’s Pakistan —by Abbas Zaidi: General Zia — a murderer, tyrant, usurper and a monument of moral bankruptcy — was the greatest patriot during his 11 years of misrule During my time as a student of English Literature at Government College, Lahore, my most
The GHQ has got it wrong! -by Khaled Ahmed: The Pakistan Army has turned Pakistan isolatiaonist on the principle of ghairat (honour). Everyone knows it runs the country’s foreign and security policies. Look closely enough and you will find that it runs practically everything. The TV channels emphasising
Human rights report: 2010 a ‘cataclysmic year’ for Pakistan, says Amnesty -by Saba Imtiaz: Unprecedented flooding, extrajudicial killings, terrorism and attacks on journalists in Pakistan are summarised in Amnesty International’s 2011 report ‘The State of the World’s Human Rights’, which was released on Friday. The report paints a grim picture of the state
Punjab: Christian student nurse forced to convert to marry Muslim man: Lahore – A 24-year Christian woman from southern Punjab was abducted by a Muslim man who, after forcing her to convert to Islam, also forced her to marry him. Although her family filed a formal report of kidnapping, the
ISI mobilizes fake civil society to defend Pakistani generals: Related posts: General Pasha in Pakistan’s parliament: Jahan panah tusi great ho, tohfa qabul karo! Questions for General Pasha (Part I) To the honourable generals of Pakistan army – by Rashid Aurakzai Nawaz Sharif’s commendable stance on Pakistani generals’
OBL fiasco: the buck stops with the military —by Dr Mohammad Taqi: The key issue is that the security establishment has shown no signs of course correction so far. From the bluster about a befitting response to a future Abbottabad-style attack to the attempted outing of the CIA’s Islamabad station chief,
Dangerous Liaisons -by Sana Bucha: Jon Stewart is funny. He made me laugh when he asked Musharraf where Osama was. Musharraf’s response of “lead the way, I will follow” comment made me smile. The late Af-Pak Envoy, Richard Holbrooke, in answer to my question
The forces of democracy and justice always triumph – by Saria Benazir: In an attempt to go through the reminiscences of an egalitarian process & the anguishes it met in Pakistan, one would perceptibly feel a profound scorn for many – including those, who vended the entire opulence , including the
Pakistan: Bhutto’s (Judicial) Murder -by Inam R Sehri: In Pakistan, general elections were held on 7th March 1977. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) emerged as the victorious Party. At the behest of Gen Ziaul Haq, the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS), all the opposition parties in coalition,
Pakistan: ISI rigged elections -by Inam R Sehri: On 2nd May 2011 evening, PPP ultimately joined hands with PML(Q) and offered them 18 slots in executive allocating them different assignments, mostly carrying ministreal perks. The young generation knows them little from days of Gen Musharraf when they
Pakistan did its part -by Asif Ali Zardari: Pakistan, perhaps the world’s greatest victim of terrorism, joins the other targets of al-Qaeda — the people of the United States, Britain, Spain, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Yemen, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Algeria — in our satisfaction that
US Commission accuses Pakistan of failing to protect minorities: This year, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom USCIRF report, 14 countries were designated as countries of particular concern (CPC) since “those governments have engaged in — or tolerated — particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
Children of Zia – by Nabiha Meher: In elite academic institutions, we often make a knee-jerk and erroneous assumption that we are not responsible for the intolerance that now permeates our land. It is easy to blame the non-English speaking public sector and madrassas. We like
Ten wounded: Attacks on Christians in Gujranwala: Lahore, April 30(ANI): At least ten people, including police officials, were wounded in attacks on houses of Christian community members in Lahore on Saturday. Demonstrators attacked the residences of members of the Christian religious community in Gujranwala, and also
Drones, dharnas and terrorism: The Friday Times: Najam Sethi Editorial Imran Khan’s “dharna” to protest drone strikes in FATA has been hailed by his supporters as highly “successful”. Political rivals aren’t impressed. They claim that “FATA tribesmen corralled by the agencies” provided the
I’m a better Muslim than you -by Meera Ghani: In Pakistan being a Muslim isn’t enough anymore. You have to be a certain type of Muslim, constantly having to prove your piety and religiosity to others (by religiosity I mean public religiosity). We seem to have gone so
Mukhtaran’s case: Let’s be reasonable -by Waseem Altaf: I think it is in the fitness of things to consider the following points, before we, the educated lot, drift towards emotionality and approach the issue with pre-conceived ideas, as is becoming visible on the nature of posts appearing
My honor is not bigger than my life! – by Shazia Nawaz: I did not expect Mukhtar’s rapist to go free. There were witnesses to the crime, were there not? But even here in USA, if victim does not get examined right after the rape, valuable information gets lost and rapist
The unsung heroes -by Waseem Altaf: Looking at our history books, we find numerous characters, glorified as national heroes, however when closely examined we discover that they were nothing but opportunists and collaborators. We also find that since history books in Pakistan, as a matter
Blasphemy laws misused: Blasphemy laws in many countries are supposed to protect religion. But while the one religion may be protected, believers of other religions often have to suffer. A piece of paper can mean a lot. Without an identity card your
Shehrbano Taseer vows to continue her father’s mission: The daughter of murdered Punjab governor Salman Taseer says she is determined to continue his campaign for changes to Pakistan’s blasphemy law, RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal reports. Taseer was shot dead on January 4 by one of his security guards