Newspaper Articles Archive
Secularism does not mean atheism or la-deeniat: Here are two excellent articles on this topic. The first one has been written by Anand Krishan in Indonesian context, and the second one by Munno Bhai in Pakistani context. Promoting faith-based secularism Anand Krishna Jakarta – 01/18/2010 When
Right click for revolution: the laptop revolutionaries of Pakistan – by Nadeem F. Paracha: Right click for revolution Anyone questioning the padded extremism and soft authoritarianism peddled by enlightened moderation is a liberal extremist who is undermining religion and promoting corrupt politicians and violent ethnic thugs. Just what exactly was Pervez Musharraf’s ‘enlightened
Soviet Lessons From Afghanistan – by Mikhail Gorbachev: A scene from the Red Army’s withdrawal from Afghanistan through the Uzbek town of Termez Picture Source Thanks: The New York Times Afghanistan is in turmoil, with tensions rising and people dying every day. Many of them — including
At Afghan women’s cost – by Sahar Saba: The US attempts to broker a deal with the Taliban have neither surprised nor upset Afghan women. The Afghan woman is not like naive liberals across the world who are deeply frustrated over this US betrayal. The liberals had
An elite conflict — by Salman Tarik Kureshi: Incompetent or do-nothing or internally divided parliaments, however constitutionally or otherwise appointed, failed to satisfy the people’s demands. They therefore left a vacuum of effectiveness, into which stepped the more action-oriented, better organised institutions: the civil bureaucracy and the
Drone attacks and US reputation — by Farhat Taj: In terms of the drone attacks, the US must not make any distinction between al Qaeda and the Taliban. They both have internalised a global ideology that is anti-civilisation and anti-human There is news coming up in the media
Meena’s life among the Taliban: Bombs and beatings: Life among the Taliban In Pakistan an account of life with the Taliban has emerged from a 13-year-old girl called Meena, who says her own family tried to turn her into a suicide bomber. Meena told
The cost of being a Shia in Pakistan: KARACHI: A motorcycle rigged with explosives rammed into a bus carrying Shias near the Nursery bridge in Karachi Friday, killing 12 people and wounding 40 in the second such attack in Pakistan’s financial capital in two months. “Twelve people
Hit and left to die – by S Khalid Husain: The Punjab chief secretary left the scene of the accident after his chauffeur-driven vehicle knocked down and killed an ex-army officer; this was a cold-blooded act no different from that of a hit-and-run driver. This was a grave error
Education and values – by Ayesha Siddiqa: The coexistence of various economic classes also meant greater tolerance for other differences, be it class, religion, caste or creed. –File Photo A year ago, some of my old classmates from Lahore’s Cathedral High School tracked me down through
Uncontested dominance – by Cyril Almeida: What makes the army so contemptuous of civilians is the fact that you can only conquer what you understand: while the army thoroughly understands the ways of the politicians, the opposite is anything but true. What does the military-bureaucratic
Nadeem F. Paracha vs Aamir Liaquat Hussain: Source: Pakistan Media Watch VS Though we typically focus on news talk shows and newspapers, it is not beyond the boundaries to also include some religious television shows. Obviously, this is not a blog about Religion Watch, and I
Former corps commander, 2 ISI officials booked: * Case registered in line with orders of Supreme Court over disappearance of Quetta resident Ali Asghar Bangalzai By Malik Siraj Akbar QUETTA: Police in the provincial capital registered a case on Wednesday against former corps commander Gen (r)
What is it to be a ‘true’ Pakistani? — by Zaair Hussain: The new Pakistani In a country where a Senator has stood before the House and declared, with a gall that must surely have blotted out the sun, that the respectable tradition of burying women alive should not be unduly
Laptop Warriors: After reading Ayaz Amir’s article and his use of the term “laptop warriors” (about Dr Shahid Masood, Ansar Abbasi etc), I googled the term and discovered this picture. Now Aitzaz Ahsan’s remarks have caused a major disappointment to them; he
Qari Hussain, the top trainer of suicide bombers of Sipah-e-Sahaba and Taliban: Qari Hussain, the chief instructor of suicide bombers (Ustad-e-Fidayeen) If the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud in a US drone attack is confirmed, it could set off a new power struggle within the Tehrik-eTaliban Pakistan, which may conclude with the
Selecting the superior judges — by Elf Habib: Giving a final and binding say to the chief justice, despite his sublime office and status and worthy of all respect and reverence, destroys the very spirit and purpose of popular will and sovereignty. It would be an unfortunate
Pakistan Army’s ‘strategic depth’ approach may lead to Pakistan’s strategic death: ‘Strategic death’? Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, in a rare press briefing, said, “We want a strategic depth in Afghanistan but do not want to control it.” These words underlie the fact that the Pakistan
Amendments for a secular constitution — by Babar Ayaz: Many analysts and rightist politicians scoff at the idea of a secular state. They have failed to understand that mixing of religion with politics has brought us today to the most violent juncture of our history. It gives enough
Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar vs A.K. Antony – by Kamran Shafi: Well done, Mr Antony By Kamran Shafi Tuesday, 02 Feb, 2010 Three lieutenant generals of the Indian army are to be tried by court martial for their part in an alleged land scam. The orders to try them were
The never-ending exodus of Christians from the Middle East – by Robert Fisk: I have usually found that the closer a religious Christian, Jew or Muslim comes to the Middle East, the madder they become. The most avuncular Shropshire vicar, the kindest Jewish moderate, the most secular Muslim – dump them within
Recourse to judiciary harmful: experts: By Nasir Iqbal Originally Published at DAWN Edited and Posted By: Farhad Jarral ISLAMABAD: A number of legal experts have cautioned against wasting energy on the debate regarding constitutional immunity for a top office when the remedy to the
Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai: the visionary – by Khurram Ali Shafique: Some people say that he fell in love, left home, became a phenomenon and came back to marry the woman who had been refused to him earlier. There is no way of knowing whether the career of Shah Abdul
We are selling ‘mother earth’ to Arab sheikhs: A strategic blunder Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s revelation that the plan to give arable land on lease is still intact should ring alarm bells. It seems that despite argument to the contrary, the foreign minister is committed
Balochistan’s unattended IDP crisis — by Malik Siraj Akbar: There are obvious reasons for the country’s security establishment to create obstacles for aid workers. The grave violations of human rights during the military operation in Balochistan are likely to be exposed to the international community once they are
The PPP is its own worst enemy – by Irfan Husain: Power, perceptions and the PPP By Irfan Husain Saturday, 30 Jan, 2010 It isn’t often that I agree with Nawaz Sharif. However, when he said a few weeks ago that the PPP was its own worst enemy, he put
Pakistan Army facing ‘friendly fire’ by the Taliban – by Farhat Taj: Dangerous abyss of perception The Pakistan Army is engaged in ‘friendly fire’ with the jihadi gangs in which the civilians, poor soldiers of the security forces, especially FC soldiers, policemen and foot soldiers of the Taliban are killed. This,
3 Shia pilgrims killed by Taliban / Sipah-e-Sahaba’s Quetta Shura: QUETTA, Pakistan — Gunmen in southwestern Pakistan opened fire on pilgrims bound for Iran on Friday, killing three Shiite Muslims and wounding seven others, in what police said was a sectarian attack. Four people riding two motorbikes sprayed bullets
Laptop Warriors: Ayaz Amir presents two pressing challenges to the Supreme Court of Pakistan: < strong>While disregarding pawns of ‘the anti-democracy establishment’ (e.g. Dr Shahid Masood and Ansar Abbasi and other members of the Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists (PTUJ)) as “laptop warriors” and “media samurais — of whom there are not a
Islami Jamiat Talaba thrashes Insaaf Students at the Punjab University: 5 students injured in ‘IJT attack’ at Hailey College * Victims associated with rival student faction * Students protest insecurity at PU, demand action against assailants By Adnan Lodhi LAHORE: At least five Punjab University students were injured in
Judiciary, executive on collision course? – by Cyril Almeida and Saleem Safi: Here are two articles on this topic by Cyril Almeida and Saleem Safi. Legally speaking By Cyril Almeida Lawyers tend to complicate things. Ask them to describe the colour red and soon you’ll be hearing about ‘vermilion’, ‘burnt sienna’
The froth of Imran Khan – by Nadeem Paracha: Related article: Imran Khan will sweep next elections – by Abdul Nishapuri What can one say about Imran Khan? A great former cricketer, a compassionate philanthropist … a sorry excuse for a politician. But his continuing forays into bad
Iftikhar Chaudhry, do you have courage to emulate your Bangladeshi counterpart?: Bangladesh hangs Mujib’s killers DHAKA: The five killers convicted of murdering Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman were executed late on Wednesday night at Dhaka’s central prison, the deputy law minister said. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh had dismissed the
Shameless and not-so-Muslim League!: Rule of law or the ‘law of rules’? By Shafiq Awan In the House, the honourable members act and behave as their masters bid them to. If a voice crosses the threshold laid down by them, it is silenced.
Long live Punjabi Chief Justice and Punjabi fascism!: Accountability — why only non-Punjabis? By Shafiq Awan There can be no doubt that the Supreme Court’s judgement on the National Reconciliation Ordinance was a historic decision and speaks volumes for the independence of the judiciary. But the verdict
If the speaker was a People’s Party law-maker. . . .: PML-N MNA ‘owns’ 7.5 acre house, but has no documents, plan * Documents show objection raised by patwari over ownership of land * Widow claims ownership of 6 acres of land * MNA Afzal Khokhar says he owns property,
Wali Khan: The Frontier Liberal – by Dr. Muhammad Taqi: Originally published in the Peshawar Statesman: The Frontier Liberal: a tribute to Wali Khan By Dr. Mohammad Taqi January 25, 2010 گریزد از صف ما ہر کہ مرد غوغا نیست کسے کہ کشتہ نہ شد از قبیلہ ما نیست
President Zardari’s advisors – by Saleem Safi: Saleem Safi writes an article questioning the ‘intellect’ and the ‘credibility’ of certain advisors of President Asif Zardari, such as
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Islam and non-violence — by Ishtiaq Ahmed: Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a man of peace. He approached Islam in the hope of finding a complementary message to Gandhi’s interpretation of Hinduism as Ram Raj and ahimsa (non-violence) and he found it
Leaders of lawyers’ movement oppose the strike call by Qazi Mohammad Anwar: Aitzaz Ahsan termed the decision for a strike premature, warning that it would divide the lawyers’ community. He said the decision had been taken in spite of PM Gilani’s assurance that the NRO judgment would be implemented.