Newspaper Articles Archive
Hard Talk: An interview with Sufi Muhammad, Leader of the TNSM in Swat, Pakistan: HARDtalk: “If Fazlullah does not appear in court when summoned, he will be acting against shariat” —Sufi Muhammad, Leader of the TNSM * Keeping weapons is allowed in Islam* The military violated the ceasefire* No objection to a cantonment
Air Marshal Shahid Lateef: What is the story?: Javed Chaudhry offers an interesting story in today’s op-ed in Daily Express regarding the appointment of the new Chief of Air Staff. My view is that Air Marshall Shahid Lateef was VCAS and rarely do VCAS become the Air
John Solecki, Kidnappers’ Casual Cruelty and Imran Khan’s Logic: Please read the last four lines of the following editorial in Daily The News. “As they stand over the bodies of their victims kidnappers invariably say that they bear no responsibility for the dead and headless body at their
From Pakistan to Madagascar: A case of military aided revolutions?: From Pakistan to Madagascar, it seems we are faced with a comparable case of military aided revolutions. In Pakistan, the Punjab Police practically defied the orders of a Sindhi led Federal Government which wanted to crush an illegal Long
The task before Justice Chaudhry – by Zubeida Mustafa: WHAT prompted the government’s change of heart at the eleventh hour that led to the announcement about the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry? Whatever other factors may have been at play, we also know that America, Britain and
Ejaz Haider: CJP restored; CJP sans Swat?: In Pakistan it is difficult to determine where to begin and how far to go back to set things right. Such situations call for pragmatism rather than sheer idealism, which is why Justice Chaudhry, the PCO 1 judge, was
Sufi and Tasawwuf, A critical view – by Khurshid Nadeem: In this op-ed, Khurshid Nadeem offers a critical perspective on Sufis and tasawwuf (mysticism) based on his reading of Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Javaid Ahmed Ghamidi. Nadeem also offers his appreciation of a Pakistani
Justice, Chief Justice and the Illusion of a False Revolution: In the following op-ed, Hasan Nisar asks some critical questions about the Long March and the restoration of the Chief Justice. Some of those questions are: 1. The Long March remained in the main confined to the Punjab. 2.
How honest and objective is Pakistan’s media? A small comparison of Daily The News and The New York Times: Long March and the role of Pakistan Army. Same story (Long March), same source (General Karamat’s article). Look at the twist in the version offered by
Swat – Dispatches: Pakistan’s Taliban Generation: A TV documentary worth watching. Dispatches: Pakistan’s Taliban Generation (Channel 4). By Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoyhttp://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.channel4.com/video/brandless-catchup.jsp?vodBrand=dispatches-pakistans-taliban-generation It was horrifying to say the least. It seems that brute force alone can’t eliminate these throat-slitting animals. It is an ideology and not restricted
Long March, Deal and Topi Drama? – by Asadullah Ghalib: External intervention by the US and the UK: The officials said Clinton coordinated with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband to exert strong pressure for a deal. Clinton told reporters Monday that the decision to reinstate Chaudhry was a first
Life after the Long March: Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has been restored and that is a most welcome development for all the right reasons in the world. Now the Zardari government should have space to move forward and address other pressing issues. And since the
Zahid F Ebrahim: Did Zardari get the last laugh?: There is much talk of an embattled and defeated man in the Presidency. The chief justice has
The never-ending march – by Mosharraf Zaidi: In September last year, I wrote that the heroic nature of the chief justice’s courage, and the lawyers’ movement that it spawned could only be transformational if it inspired political action that was rooted in the same principles, and
Ahmadi couple found dead in Multan: LAHORE: Blindfolded bodies of an Ahmadi couple were found from their house in Multan with hands tied behind their backs. The two were doctors by profession and had been murdered on March 14, a press
Who will lead a Long March to Swat? Civil judges barred from attending courts by Sufi Muhammad: Swat: Civil judges must refrain from coming to the courts. Sufi Muhammad’s order Sufi Muhammad urges people to cooperate with Qazi courts SWAT, Mar 16 (APP): The Chief of Tehrik
Deal or no deal? The real story of the Long March and the restoration of Iftikhar Chaudhry: Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry restored as Chief Justice of PakistanMonday, March 16, 2009 ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani early Monday morning announced reinstatement of the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar
Cowasjee: Who can tolerate an independent judiciary?: By Ardeshir Cowasjee Sunday, 15 Mar, 2009 ‘The reality is that neither Nawaz nor Zardari can tolerate free judiciary.’ Now, what with the word ‘disintegration’ being bandied about in the media, the ‘leadership’ we suffer must bear in mind
ICG Report: ‘Radical Deobandi groups source of Pakistan terror’: “The international community, particularly the U.S., must … help strengthen civilian control over all areas of governance, including counter-terrorism, and the capacity of the federal government to
14 March 2009: Three more Shias killed in D.I. Khan: Shia Couple Martyred in Terrorism SFP News: March 14, 2009 D.I.Khan : the official of Antiterrorist Court Mohammad Sharif and His wife Tehsin Bibi martyred on 14 March 2009 when they were on Motorbike at 8:00 AM morning. Mohammad
Kaiser Bengali: Behind PML-N’s outrage: Friday, 13 Mar, 2009 The judicial crisis is essentially a political issue and politics is the art of compromise. Adopting uncompromising positions is tantamount to creating a deadlock, which the PML-N appears to be doing. – APP/File photo. NAWAZ
Some critical reflections on Long March – 14 March 2009: Long March reflections After a dominance of repeated patterns, most opinion about the Long March, which began on Thursday, is philosophical rather than analytical-practical. There is also a tendency to theorise, which is natural when patterns are repeated. As
Sindh Assembly unanimously adopts resolution supporting Zardari; condemns Sharif’s conspiracy against democracy: احتجاجی تحریک سازش ہے: قرار داد احمد رضا بی بی سی اردو ڈاٹ کام، کراچی قرارداد حکمران اتحاد میں شامل جماعت متحدہ قومی موومنٹ کے سردار احمد نے پیش کی سندھ اسمبلی نے بدھ کو اتفاق رائے سے ایک
Conspiracy. Will anyone tell me who these terrorists are? – by Munir Attaullah: Conspiracy! —Munir Attaullah It is clear that everyone, inside and outside Pakistan, particularly RAW, is conspiring against us. But what is so disheartening is that, in spite of such certain knowledge, our destiny is to be victims The simpleton
Ijaz Hussain: Unattended issues of SC judgement: Unattended issues of SC judgement —Ijaz Hussain If courts are not in a position to refuse cases that are essentially political in character, litigants can certainly help them towards this end. They can do so by refraining from judicial
Long March: Nawaz Sharif’s banaspati revolution, made in Punjab.: Dangerous options By I.A. Rehman Thursday, 12 Mar, 2009 (Dawn) Much can be said in favour of all the three gladiators in the arena — the lawyers, the government and the PML-N-but much weightier are the arguments against them.
Eid Miladun Nabi versus Talibanisation: This year the festival of the “third Eid” of Islam was observed with unprecedented exuberance. Eid Miladun Nabi, the Birthday of the Holy Prophet PBUH, has always been the most important of the three Eids, but in this season
Nazir Naji & Zafar Hilaly’s SOS from Swat: Swat and saving Pakistan Tuesday, March 10, 2009 Zafar Hilaly More information regarding the Swat deal between the government and the Taliban has come to light. It now appears that the Taliban were bought off by the government for
Is Nawaz Sharif paving the road to martial law in Pakistan?: If the army is compelled to step in Now that the two mainstream parties have virtually declared the doors of reconciliation shut, commentators are already talking of the possibility of the army stepping in “to bring the country back
9 March 2009: 2 more shia funerals in Quetta. Shia killing goes on unabated under the watch of the ISI: Two Shia Muslims gunned down in Quetta March 09 2009 at 11:56AM Quetta – Gunmen on a motorcycle on Monday killed two Shi’a Muslims in an apparent sectarian attack in Pakistan’s south-western city of Quetta, police said. The victims
Threat to secular Balochistan? How real is the issue of Talibanisation in Quetta?: Threat to secular Balochistan? By Malik Siraj AkbarMonday, 09 Mar, 2009 NOTHING embarrasses and irks Pakistani spymasters more than the issue of Talibanisation in Quetta. Over the years, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly protested against the alleged protection
Shaheen Sardar Ali: Clutching at straws: ANP in the copmany of Sufi Muhammad in Swat: Clutching at straws By Shaheen Sardar AliMonday, 09 Mar, 2009, Dawn THEY say the guns have fallen silent, there is a lull in the frenzied strafing. We hear no more schools will be torched, bombed and looted; the dreaded
Fata’s 35 Hindus migrate to India: To our Hindu brothers and sisters, we have only this much to say. “We are sorry. This is not Jinnah’s Pakistan. This is Mullah Omar’s, Qazi Hussain Ahmed’s and General Hamid Gul’s Pakistan.“ … More then 200,000 people
How we lost Swat — Nasir Abbas Mirza: The loss of Swat is not the end of it. It is just another battle lost by us. This battle, and the many more to come, can only be won with more liberties, more freedom and more rights. And
Imran Khan and the ‘liberals’: Addressing a lawyers’ gathering at the Rawalpindi Bar on Saturday, the leader of Tehreek-e Insaf, Mr Imran Khan, once again belaboured a certain section of society as “liberals”. They fly in the face of national emotion
Ansar Abbasi: Nawaz Sharif must refrain from political reconciliation with the PPP.: Ansar Abbasi advises Nawaz Sharif to refrain from reconciliation. He suggests that politics of reconciliation can be devastating for the country. Really? Good bye,
Taliban attack the tomb of Rahman Baba in Peshawar: William Dalrymple on the attack: Wahhabi radicals are determined to destroy a gentler, kinder Islam: General Zia’s Wahhabi legacy in Pakistan: In identifying General Zia-ul-Haq’s great dis-service to Islam and Pakistan, Green Sufi writes: “It is hard to say the General’s rule was a bed of roses for Islam. Some steps he took could