Monthly Archive:: January 2010
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,
Pakistani media leading to chaos or consensus? – by Junaid Qaiser: Today, democracy and liberal development are interdependent with recognition by media. In an informed democracy, public reasoning based opinion is a vital aide for transparent governance. It is an age of advancement in communication technology where internet, push button
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
Khalid Anwer and the NRO – by Aamir Mughal: Mr Khalid Anwer is an ’eminent’ lawyer, and according to his legal firm profile: “Khalid Anwer & Co. is a premier law firm having a total strength of eleven lawyers in Karachi and associate firms in Lahore and Islamabad.
On Maria B’s “Wake up Zaidistan” and PTV – by Red Ink: PTV is no shining example of stellar journalism. Its no BBC, heck its no where near even an American network. While legally speaking it is supposed to be a public channel, PTV has often functioned as little more than
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’
Mesmerization of Pakistani politics – by Agha Haider Raza: Politics in Pakistan mesmerize me. Not only does one enjoy the daily dose of rhetoric that is spewed from the mouths of our beloved politicians, but the one track mind of those in and out of government baffles the mind.
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
Towards a new phase of irrigation sector reforms in Punjab- a case study of PIDA – by Qudrat Ullah: Keeping in view the changing patterns in water sector, growing needs of water utilization for food crops and the need to involve the farming community in the repairmen and maintenance of colossal irrigation infrastructure, the government of the Punjab
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,
PPP’s commitment and contribution to free press – by Junaid Qaiser: Democracy and free media are co-related; democracy is impossible without a free (unbiased) media, and free media is impossible without democracy. Democracy and free media reinforce each other. Huge credit goes to Pakistan Peoples Party, which is the biggest
Half-truth of the Supreme Court of Pakistan: An interesting conversation: Here are some excerpts from an interesting conversation at pkpolitics where ‘Bawa’, a pro-democracy blogger (with anti-Zardari inclinations), has raised some interesting points about the anti-NRO stance of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. آدھا سچ ہم میں سے ہر
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
List of Taliban’s atrocities and crimes in Afghanistan: Those who insist on distinction between the TTP and Afghan Taliban should (be forced to) read this: LUBP Editor’s note: Lately, apologists of the Takfiri Deobandi Taliban (i.e., members and supporters of PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami, PML-N, Sipah-e-Sahaba (ASWJ-LeJ), JUI-F, JUI-S,
Pakistan’s various governments and the approximate periods of their rule – by Kamran Shafi: Below, without comment a list of Pakistan’s various governments and the approximate periods of their rule, or misrule if you will. ‘Caretaker’ governments or those such as Mr Mohammad Khan Junejo’s, Mr Zafarullah Jamali’s and the Private Banker’s have
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.
The bad Sufi – by Qalandar Bux Memon: It is often assumed that Sufism stands opposed to Wahhabism. Wrong. Sufism and Wahhabism, in fact, share a fatal characteristic – they are religions of the status quo. In Pakistan, Sufism legitimises barbarities of inequality and starvation – ‘do
accounts of family members of jihadis: From BBC Urdu جہادی کہانیاں یہ بات اب کسی سے ڈھکی چھپی نہیں رہی کہ ماضی میں جہادِ افغانستان اور جہاد کشمیر میں شریک کئی شدت پسند تنظیموں کو پاکستان کے ریاستی اداروں کی مکمل سرپرستی حاصل رہی ہے۔
PPP Government: A window of opportunity for Pakistan – by Junaid Qaiser: In the words of Benazir Bhutto, democracy: “… is a birth right too often snatched at the point of the gun from the citizens by the very men who are to guard and defend us. This can stop to
diruz dar bustan sara (Naat) دیروز در بستان سرا: نعت رسول مقبول صلی الله علیہ و آلہ وسلّم دیروز در بستان سرا، ہمہ طوطیان خوشنوا پڑھتی تھیں نعت مصطفیٰ بلغ العلی بکمالہ
Shazia’s death and the shameful role of the lawyer fraternity: The torture and slaughter of Shazia, a 12-year-old maid, in DHA, Lahore has caused a stir. Here are a few reports which suggest that: 1. Domestic servants in Pakistan, house maids in particular, remain vulunerable and subject to physical, emotional
The post-NRO dynamic – by Talat Masood: In these times when Pakistan is beleaguered with multiple crises — a major insurgency, constant fear of terrorist attacks, lurking danger of economic melt-down, political infighting etc — it is additionally burdened with the unique challenge of managing the
Farewell, Irshad Ahmed Haqqani. Farewell, Harf-e-Tamanna!: 6 September 1928 – 24 January 2010
Mubashir Lucman’s chargesheet against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry: In an episode of Point Blank by Mubashir Lucman with Wasim Akhtar (MQM) and Fauzia Wahab (PPP), the anchor issued a bold charge-sheet against CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry stating that CJP Chaudhry should have been booked and punishable by death
NRO verdict: a murder of history – by Humza Ikram: Recent NRO verdict is an attempt to distort our 64 years of political history. And the thing which makes me sad the most is that how easily Supreme Court picked up Benazir Bhutto’s book (Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the
A crass decision by the Punjab government – Guest post by Sakib Ahmad: The government of the Punjab has made a decision to require all schools in the province to introduce English as the medium of instruction from the beginning of the next school year. I cannot find words strong enough to
Democracy under siege — by Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi: The PPP-led federal government, especially President Asif Ali Zardari, faces a siege like situation due to the subtle behind-the-scene moves by the military top brass, the political fallout of the Supreme Court judgement on the NRO, and the off-again,