Original Articles Archive

زندگی، فرد اور معاشرہ: لڑکپن میں سعدی کی حکایات پڑھیں تھیں، فارسی تو آتی نہیں تھی لہٰذا ترجمہ پڑھا، ہر حکایت کے اختتام پر ایک پیرا گراف ہوتا جو اس حکایت سے ملنے والی ہدایت پر روشنی ڈالتا کہ ‘اس قصّے سے ہمیں

Accountability Court quashes 13 year old SGS case. Acquits all.: Pronouncing verdict in the 13-year old reference, first filed in 1998 popularly known as the SGS case, the Accountability Court Rawalpindi Judge Mian Altaf Hussain Mahar on Saturday acquitted the accused under trial declaring also that there was no

Dastan-e-Ameer Hamza Marwat ba zuban Saleem Safi: داستان امیر حمزہ بزبان سلیم صافی میر شکیل نے اپنی ترکش میں کئی طرح کے تیر یا یوں کہیں کہ اپنی اصطبل میں طرح طرح کے سدھائےہوئے گھوڑے جمع کر رکھے ہیں، جو ہر ریس میں قسمت آزمائی کو

Overpopulation or Overconcentration? – By Niaz Murtaza: Is overpopulation the root cause of all ills in Pakistan, such as poor governance, terrorism and shortages? So argue Mr. Cowasjee and Mr. Irfan Hussain in recent articles in Dawn. Both have been towering intellectual figures on the Pakistani

Questions for pro-Jihadi judiciary and its apologists: Senator from Pakistan Peoples Party Faisal Raza Abidi has raised some pertinent questions in the wake of highly politicized and pro-terrorists judiciary that are still to be answered by the apologists and champions of independent Judiciary and media.

How to counter Extremism in South Asia – by Ahsan Abbas Shah:

Censoring Dawn TV‏ -by A. H. Nayyar: A very interesting thing happened this evening (28th July). DawnTV was airing Arshad Sharif’s talk show Reporter. The topic today was growth of Islamic militancy, especially Jundullah within Pakistan’s military and its connection with Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. He started

Allama of the 21st Century – Ibtisam Ilahi Zaheer – by Usmann Rana: Capitalizing on the US embassy holding pride event and the ensuing fiasco, Aaj television tabled a debate on LGBT people with a panel consisting of Islamabad based journalist Marvi Sirmed and fashion journalist Mohsin Sayeed along with the

Was Khar impressive in India? – Muhammad Saeed Akhter: Ms Khar’s elevation to the stature of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan has had a mixed response from the media. The far right found the decision ridiculous, the majority showing indifference taking it as another foolish decision of the

Islamism & the Far-Right: The Twin Faces of Terror – by Rab Nawaz: Those groups who adopt violence and abandon democracy and dialogue as a means of presenting their demands prove bankrupt on the question of legitimacy of their methods. It is thus exposed that their arguments and reasoning are nothing but

The Lone Murderer in Oslo Represents No Emerging Christian Extremist Group – by Rusty Walker: About the author: Rusty Walker is an Independent Political Analyst, educator, author, Vietnam veteran-era U.S. Air Force, from a military family, retired college professor, former Provost (Collins College, U.S.A.), artist, musician and family man. Rusty Walker is an ardent

Questioning the credibility of PTV awards: A letter by Farheen Chaudhry: Farheen Chaudhry, a poetess, short stories writer and Ex, General Secretary Hlaqa Arbar-e-Zuaq, has sent us this letter about the favoritism and unfair attitude towards her in Pakistan Television, Our LUBP contributor, journalist and progressive writer Aamir Hussaini has

The much envious hate Zardari the more we love Zardari:

Let’s mourn five Saraiki labourers killed by Baloch militants: Related posts: In defence of Punjabis: Stop target killing of Punjabi settlers in Balochistan LUBP archive on Punjabi settlers in Balochistan I was motivated to write this post after reading the following tweet by a fellow Tweeple, a

Shia students beheaded by Taliban-SSP in Kurram agency: …… چارخیل لوئر کرم سے اغوا سید اجلال حسین اور ذاکر حسین آف پاراچنار کو طالبان نے بے دردی سے ذبح کرکے قتل کردیا ،جبکہ باقی آٹھ مغوی ٹرک ڈرائیوروں کو رہا کردیا۔ اتوار کے دن پاراچنار سے پشاور

In Memory of Iftekhar Naseem: ہمیں افتخار نسیم ہمیشہ یاد رہیں گے اس لئے کہ ہماری جان پہچان نہ ہونے کے برابر تھی، صرف ایک قاری اور مصّنف کا رشتہ تھا، پھر بھی وہ چند مکالمے جو ہم میں ہوئے

Resistance and Law: Land Mark Decision by Indian Supreme Court – by Shaheryar Ali: “…people do not take arms, in an organized fashion, against the might of the state, or against fellow human beings without rhyme or reason. Guided by an instinct for survival, and according to Thomas Hobbes, a fear of lawlessness

Deconstructing Pakistani liberals: A response to Shashi Tharoor and Raza Rumi: Related posts: Recommending Aatish Taseer How to identify liberal proxies of GHQ in Pakistani media and blogs Taseer’s murder and the call for a ‘broad-based alliance’ between PPP and the ‘civil society’ – by Ahmad Nadeem Gehla Recently I

Self-reliance or smart engagement? – By Dr. Niaz Murtaza: Having failed to ignite a revolution with their fiery speeches, the fierce, self-appointed defenders of Pakistan’s interests are now focusing their energies on preaching the virtues of national self-reliance. Their definition of self-reliance remains vague. However, their ire has focused

Sayana Kawwa …. Khaye?: Ghulam Nabi Fai has been arrested in Washington for collaborating with the Pakistan’s once invincible Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) for funneling money of around US$ 4 million to influence United States policy on Kashmir. The reasons for his arrest

Pakistan at the Crossroads – Benazir Bhutto Interview with YaleGlobal: Benazir Bhutto came back to Pakistan in backdrop of an inconclusive dialogue with the former military dictator general musharraf. Before her return, she was highly critical of the terrorist activities of the Lal Masjid Clerics and amidst a hostile

KESC Labour union defies ethnic divide – by Ali Arqam: The devil’s advocate in Pakistan mainstream media TV channels and newspaper reporters are misinforming people on the strife between KESC workers and incompetent but very powerful administration. Notwithstanding their pledges and agreements with the Govt. after taking charge of

Rampant Plagiarism: Here is something from my timeline: “@saeedshah Sana Bucha’s column also lifted the headline and the “sulk” theme from my Economist piece” Its just highlights disappointing and unfortunate standard of our media that a renowned anchor would plagiarise this blatantly in a national

Bhutto ka Beta – by Ahsan Abbas Shah:

Recommending Aatish Taseer – by Alamdar Mengal: It was interesting to come across some Twitter reactions to Mr. Aatish Taseer’s boldly written article, “Why My Father Hated India” that was published in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, which poses some tough questions about the historical and

PM Gilani, don’t appoint a man of doubtful integrity as head of the supreme audit institution – by Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa: The 1973 Constitution seems silent on defining a criterion for appointing an auditor general. Article 168 of the 1973 constitution says that the president shell appoint an auditor general. Article 168(3) says an auditor-general cannot be removed. Perhaps, Raza

Return of the MQM – PPP haters in state of shock: MQM, the largest political party from Karachi is the most reliable foe of the current political set up. It gets upset on matters which can only be termed as wacky. They leave the coalition basing their decisions on

Regional Strategy against Terrorism – by Ahsan Abbas Shah:

The persecution of Sikhs and Hindus in Pakistan is unaccaptable!: The following two incidents should be a source of shame to all Pakistanis. The first instance involves our dear Sikh Pakistani brothers and sisters and this is how Express Tribune reported it: “The Sikh community in Lahore have been

Karachi Reportage and stereotypical Douchebaggery – by Ali Arqam: Last night in a recently launched TV show by Express News with a Janus-faced title “Sirf Sach” hosted by a relatively new face Ali Mumtaz, the participants from Karachi were asked about violence in Karachi. He chose the

Smokers’ Corner: Lounge revolutionaries -by Nadeem F. Paracha: There have so far been three major occasions in which Pakistani middle class has broken away from its traditionally conservative disposition to come out and announce ‘revolutionary’ political aspirations. The first time when this class began demonstrating political assertiveness

Pakistan: A Brighter Future?: Pakistanis tend to be dreamy romanticists. Our favorite dream relates to the sudden emergence of a knight in shining armor from heavens to rescue everyone through able governance. Unfortunately, this is a pipe-dream, for leaders emerge from within societies,

Karachi, Fire Rages On – by Saif Ali Azad: Karachi, the unfortunate city is once again burning; the current wave of bloodshed, target killing and terror rattled the city once again. It is presenting like wore torn city, bullet riddled bodies, corpses, fire engulfed vehicles, buses and buildings.

Listening to Munawar Hasan’s views on rape was very traumatic – by Dr. Shazia Nawaz: You might be angry at Munawar Hassan of Jamat-e-Islami for saying that in order to avoid jail time, victims of rape should stay quiet. I feel sorry for him. He reminds me of Nana Jee. He looks like Nana

Anjum Aqeel’s Escape and PML-N’s media spin: PML-N’s MNA, Anjum Aqeel Khan yesterday made a dramatic escape from policy custody with due support of his PML-N workers. Though the action has been “condemned” by the PML-N leadership, but the spin given by Rana Sanaullah, Pervaiz Rasheed,

Zulifqar Mirza versus MQM case (I) -by Manzur Ejaz: First of all let me state a disqualifier: All Urdu Speaking Muhajirs are not associated with MQM or religious parties of this ethnic group. The very fact that PPP candidates give a hard time to non-PPP/religious/ethnic politicians show that

Mirza’s Statement and Karachi Violence: Zulfiqar Mirza made comments that infuriated many Urdu-Speaking people, when he said many Urdu Speakers had come hungry and naked to Pakistan. He was speaking after rumours that MQM wanted a separate province of Urdu Speakers. The trouble started

Thank you, Supreme Court and PML-N, for releasing Malik Ishaq: Note by Suleman Akhtar: Malik Ishaq, prominent figure of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) (also known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) or Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat) was today set free by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The head of Sipah-e-Sihaba Pakistan, Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi, received him

One day Balochistan will be a free country – Tarek Fatah’s message on the memorial of Prof. Saba Dashtyari: Tarek Fatah is a friend of Balochistan, author of “The Jew is not my enemy” and “Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State” and founder of Canadian Muslim Congress. He sent the following speech to

Does Britain back MQM’s violence? By Shiraz Paracha: The British government shares some responsibility for violence in Karachi as wanted criminals use their UK bases to incite hate and violence in Pakistan. Altaf Hussain, a British citizen and a mafia style leader of a linguistic group, everyday