Newspaper Articles Archive
The concept of brotherhood in Islam: How Muslims view each other and how they view Non-Muslims: With the end of the Cold War, a new enemy emerged, Radical Islamic Fundamentalism, made up of Islamic extremists, terrorists and the states that support them. If we are to counter them at all, we must help to understand
US commission: Pakistan schools teach Hindu hatred: Editor’s Note: Curriculum reform is the need of the hour. In the last couple of days, 3 Pakistani Hindu doctors have been killed and Pakistan’s peaceful, hardworking and patriotic Hindu, Christain and Ahmadi muslims face the brunt of violence
Zardari’s zen politics -by Irfan Waheed: The objective of this article is not to criticise the government, for that has been done ad nauseum by all and sundry. Neither do I intend to foment the movement to oust the government, for removing a sitting government
Imran Khan: the 12th man rises – by Omar Ali: Source Pakistan’s greatest cricketing hero and second most successful philanthropist entered politics 15 years ago, promising a progressive, Islamic, modern, corruption-free Pakistan. His position as the most successful captain in Pakistan’s cricket history, the founder of Pakistan’s finest cancer
Satirical song, a YouTube hit, challenges extremism in Pakistan – by Salman Masood: A satirical song that takes a tongue-in-cheek swipe at religious extremism, militancy and contradictions in Pakistani society has become an instant hit here, drawing widespread attention as a rare voice of the country’s embattled liberals. The song, “Aalu Anday,”
Imran Khan is playing in the hands of the military establishment – by Ali Aftab (Beygairat Brigade): Lead singer of Beygairat Brigade, Ali Aftab, asks some tough questions about Imran Khan and the sinister role of Pakistani establishment behind his PTI. And here I am thinking, can PTI clean sweep the next elections? Do they even have candidates
The blocked elite’s euphoria on Imran Khan’s arrival – by Nadeem F. Paracha: On the block by Nadeem Paracha In February I wrote an article on these pages called The blocked elite. Today after following all the excitement amongst the urban middle-class youth and in the populist electronic media about Imran Khan’s
Imran Khan: the myth and the reality -by Badar Alam: WHEN Imran Khan launched the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf in 1996, then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto rhetorically asked, “Can Imran win 51 per cent seats in parliament to form a government?” A decade and a half later, the same question haunts
Sacrifice: Then and Now – by Arshad Mahmood: Business tycoons have ventured into this trade earning billions; terrorist organizations collect meat and hides, while at the bottom of the ladder, the Mullah and madrassa students get sufficient meat to eat The concept of sacrifice is an ancient
Imran Khan gains ground in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa -by Zia Ur Rehman: Iftikhar Ahmed Jhagra, a former provincial minister, has joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on October 28, abandoning his long affiliation with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). “The Imran Khan-led PTI is the only party that can bring peace and prosperity
Pathan explains a thing or two to Dharna dude – by Imran Khan: The characters: Dharna dude from Islamabad – loves X-box, facials, and PTI. Pathan from Peshawar – father died in a bomb blast, brother abducted by the Taliban. Dialogue ensues: Dharna dude: Hey Mr Pathan man! What kind of a
Imran Khan has arrived: A tsunami in a Punjabi teapot – by Ayesha Siddiqa: As the former cricket captain Imran Khan stood before the cheering crowd in Lahore at his rally on Sunday, October 30, he promised that support for him would prove to be a tsunami, sweeping away all that he considers
How can peace return to FATA – by Mehmood Khan Achakzai: Six frontier regions and seven tribal agencies are contiguously lying with Khyber pukhtoonkhwa as follows. First are those tribal regions which are connected with district Peshawar. Second are the tribal areas connected with Kohat district. Third are those tribal
490 years of jail sentences for labour leaders in Pakistan – by Farooq Tariq: Note: Pakistan is a country where Jihadi-sectarian terrorists such as Malik Ishaq, Hafiz Saeed, Qari Hussain etc are routinely acquitted, while tough sentences are reserved for poor labourers. On November 1, a protest demonstration and rally was held in
ANP: fall from grace -by Rashid Orakzai: The ANP has remained taciturn viz a viz Rawalpindi’s expansionist policy beyond Torkham. It had no say in the USIP-JI report on the ‘Endgame in Afghanistan’. It maintained an eerie silence on the new FATA and FANA regulations allowing
U.S. Seeks Aid From Pakistan in Peace Effort: By ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID E. SANGER WASHINGTON – Just a month after accusing Pakistan’s spy agency of secretly supporting the Haqqani terrorist network, which has mounted attacks on Americans, the Obama administration is now relying on the same
Kurram: a paradise lost – by Farhat Taj: Kurram is a mixed Shia-Sunni agency in FATA. Despite occasional Shia-Sunni clashes, Kurram remained by and large a peaceful part of the British India state and later its successor, the Pakistani state. There are mainly two reasons for that.
aik Zardari, sab per bhari – by Shoaib Adil: ایک زرداری سب پر بھاری جوں جوں سینٹ کے الیکشن قریب آتے جارہے ہیں الیکٹرانک میڈیا میں جمہوریت کو ایک ناکام نظام ثابت کرنے کا پراپیگنڈہ شروع ہو گیا ہے۔ تقریباً ہر ٹاک شو کا موضوع حکومت کی ناکامی
Begum Bhutto remembered – by Kamran Shafi: When I see the carping on Twitter, and various blogs and discussion boards and what have you, complaining about the holiday to mark the passing of Begum Nusrat Bhutto; or about the government flying journalists to Larkana to cover
Begum Nusrat Bhutto, We salute you – by Farahnaz Ispahani: The political history of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has been one of relentless and unyielding struggle to restore democracy in Pakistan in the face of overwhelming resistance by the forces of tyranny and dictatorship. Though this history is
Afghanistan: Pakistan accused of backing Taliban: Pakistan has been accused of playing a double game, acting as America’s ally in public while secretly training and arming its enemy in Afghanistan according to US intelligence. In a prison cell on the outskirts of Kabul, the Afghan
Pakistan is poorer without you: Rest in peace Begum Bhutto – by Marvi Sirmed: Islamabad, Oct.24 (ANI): She had been ill since long. In fact after 1996, when her son was killed, none of us ever saw her or heard from her. Yet the news of Begum Nusrat Bhutto’s passing away came as
Why Pakistan’s media needs a code of conduct?: Pakistan’s media landscape has exploded over the last decade. But it is still the most dangerous place on earth to be a journalist and there are now calls for a strict code of conduct to protect the press and
Marginalizing Pakhtoons here but longing for their rule in Afghanistan, Army paradox — by Kahar Zalmay: My people want to live peacefully with their neighbours. My people are poor, their wishes and desires too little and they want to live as free men, not soldiers During my extensive travels in the Pashtun heartland after a
The Buddhist heritage of Pakistan: The beauty of ancient globalisation: Pakistan’s problems with violent extremism have eclipsed its historical role as a place with a tradition of tolerance. TODAY Peshawar in north-west Pakistan is a hotbed of insurgency and a strategic military entry point into Afghanistan. But more than
Church report condemns Pakistan’s intolerance toward Non-Muslims: A 12-year-old Christian girl’s ordeal sheds further light on the plight of religious minorities. LAHORE, Pakistan — Human-rights activists in Pakistan and outside are aghast over the plight of a 12-year-old Christian girl who escaped the clutches of her
Attacks on journalists and media freedom – by Imtiaz Alam: Media Commission Pakistan held its second conference on 15th October in Islamabad on “attacks on journalists and media freedom”. About 150 editors and leading journalists attended the conference. Following are excerpts from the declaration issued by the conference. The
… Meanwhile in the Land of the Pure – by Nadeem F. Paracha: * Photo illustrations by Nadeem F. Paracha Source: Dawn
Did someone say “Dr General-CMLA Ziaul Haq” too? — by Abbas Zaidi: Ninety-nine percent of Pakistani (electronic and print) media (Urdu as well as English) is right wing, and 100 percent of it has run amok in fury over an honorary doctorate awarded to Interior Minister Rehman Malik by Governor Sindh
Killings of Hazara Shias: makings of genocide? Some questions for human rights groups — by Mohammad Taqi: Guest editor’s note: In the following op-ed published in Daily Times, Dr. Mohammad Taqi continues with his tradition of writing on sensitive and non-mainstream topics thus demonstrating his character and intellectual integrity. Dr. Taqi asks tough questions from what
Who is a terrorist? – By Niaz Murtaza: One finds little legal guidance on this knotty question since the international community has yet to develop a legal definition given terrorism’s politically charged nature. Terrorism literally means using terror as a strategy. This definition would cover psychopaths mutilating
The killings and the promises — by Mir Sohaib Mengal: The media and the judiciary keep concentrating on non-issues but turn a blind eye to brutalities and human rights violations by state-run agencies Prime Minister Gilani, on his recent visit to Quetta, asked the militants to shun violence and
Enjoying ‘Aaloo-Andey’ with the people – By Nadeem Farooq Paracha: Editor’s Note: We are pleased to cross post this excellent article for DAWN Blogs by Nadeem Paracha. Kudos to the Beygairat Brigade for their bold, audicious, subversive and darkly comic song on the prevailing Zeitgiest of the Urban elites. Just
Aiders and abettors – by Kamran Shafi: Related posts: Maleeha Lodhi and her services to the Deep State LUBP Archive on Maleeha Lodhi The Deep State is not alone in its enterprise of trying to fool all of the people all of the time for its
Sufi clerics issue call to reject hardline Wahabis: NEW DELHI: A prominent organization of Sunni clerics has urged Muslims to reject hardline Wahabi Islam, which it said was giving the community a bad name, and called for limiting the influence of Saudi Arabia, which it blamed for
Rape of History by Muslims – by Hamid Akhtar: In the following two columns published in daily Express in March 2009, veteran columnist (late) Hamid Akhtar offers some excerpts from Hasan Jafar Zaidi’s article “hamari tarikh fehmi aur humara fikir aur siasi bohran” which was published in the
Kharotabad: A Taliban safe haven in Quetta: People in Kharotabad are living in constant fear of possible drone attacks in their neighbourhood, considering that over the past six months, the Afghan and local Taliban seemed to covet this part of Quetta as a veritable ‘vacation spot’.
Takfiri Molvi and the Taliban’s ideology – by Asad Munir: Those who support the Taliban also think that when the Americans leave, the Taliban will give up their arms and return to a normal peaceful life. They should see a recent video uploaded on YouTube. It is titled “Takfiri
Judicial relief for LeJ terrorists: A case for rethinking justice – by Ayesha Siddiqa: The Lahore High Court recently ordered the provincial home ministry to take off the names of 25 Sipah-i-Sahaba activists from the police watch-list on the grounds that there was no material evidence against them. Thus, these people were taken off the