Monthly Archive:: February 2010
Congratulations, General Kayani, on defeating ‘bad’ Taliban and ‘bad’ politicians at the same time – by Cyril Almeida: Coming full circle Friday, 12 Feb, 2010 OUR boys in uniform have a spring in their step again. Domestically, they have taken on two enemies and appear to be winning: the civilian government has been reduced to parroting the
Shame on political parties, especially our own PPP: Women’s disenfranchisement Election observers have reported that thousands of women from Lakki Marwat were denied their right to vote during Wednesday’s by-election for PF-75, which was also marked by procedural irregularities and illegal campaigning. Having visited the majority of
The curious case of Aafia Siddiqui and the conspiracy theorists – by Ahmed Naqvi: Aafia Siddiqui’s legal case has done its round in Pakistan’s media. From the anti-government newspaper The Nation, to the relatively liberal and seemingly unbiased Dawn, everyone has taken a swipe at this jaw-dropping, mind-numbing political situation. Yes, political situation.
We are proud of you, Naseem Hameed, South Asia’s fastest woman: Pakistan’s Naseem Hameed has created history by becoming the fastest woman of the region when she won the 100-metre sprint gold medal at the South Asian Games. Daughter of Pakistan The 22-year-old from Karachi clocked 11.81seconds, 0.12seconds ahead of
Zardari bashing reaches ABC News blog – by Sarah Khan: It was saddening to see how an engineered video clip defaming President Asif Zardari made its way to ABC News blog. Here is the article which inspired me to write this post particularly because I was in the audience
From Maududi to Aafia – by Nadeem F. Paracha: She’s being called the “daughter of the nation” who needs to be rescued from the fanged jaws of the Americans. Her name is Dr. Aafia Siddiqui. Pakistani TV channels and drawing-rooms are buzzing with talk of this gallant woman
Iran’s Islamic revolution is dead?: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks on the 31st anniversary of the Isalmic Revolution. Hundreds of thousands of government supporters have massed in central Tehran to mark the anniversary of the revolution that created Iran’s Islamic republic.
Insight of a Leader – by Usama Bhutto: Lucy Komisar writes: Twenty years ago, on a campaign trip in rural Pakistan in October 1987, Benazir Bhutto told me of her concern about the long-term effect of Afghan refugees who had set up safe houses, stored munitions and
Reconciliation Is No Silver Bullet – by Anas Muhammad: Two years ago – February 2008 – Pakistan began its transformation to democracy with a general election that brought Benazir Bhutto’s PPP (Pakistan People’s Party) into power. The party decided to continue its policy, introduced by its slain leader
Castigating politicians: A sense of gloom and all-pervasive disillusionment and despair seems to have overtaken the country. Since a civilian elected government is at the head of affairs, the anger and frustration of wide sections of the people is turning on
Strategic depth for Pakistan lies within Pakistan – by Kamran Shafi: It is within us By Kamran Shafi Tuesday, 09 Feb, 2010 THERE has been a veritable raft of statements from the chief of army staff in the very recent past on ‘strategic depth’ for Pakistan in Afghanistan. Variously: “we
Kharijiites, martyrs and the Pakistani media – by Ahsan Abbas: کیا خارجیوں کے ساتھ میڈیا ثالثی کردار ادا کر رہا ہے یا شہیدوں کے ساتھ سازشی ؟ سال ٢٠١٠کا دوسرا مہینہ شروع ہوگیا، گُذشتہ برسوں کی نسبت آگ و خون کا کھیل ختم ہونے کی کوئی آثار سُجھائی نہیں
Attack on Sheikh Rashid: the other side of the story: By Omar Khattab in Rawalpindi There is a lot of confusion in Rawalpindi and elsewhere in Pakistan about who would have wanted to kill Shiekh Rashid. This is what happened: Yesterday as he was coming out of his election
Independence of judiciary and military boots – by Bawa: عدلیہ کی آزادی اور فوجیوں کے بوٹ عدلیہ کی بحالی سے عدلیہ کی آزادی تک مصنف: باوا ایک طویل جدوجہد کے بعد اٹھارہ سو پینسٹھ میں امریکی آئین میں تیرھویں ترمیم کے ذریعے امریکہ میں غلامی کا خاتمہ کر
The case of missing persons: A national shame – by Sakib Ahmad: Va la-qad karramna banee Aadam (Al-Qur’an, 17/70) [Indeed, We have conferred dignity on the children of Adam] – but, alas, our secret agencies know not! Early last month, when the government’s defiance of the Supreme Court ruling on Musharraf’s
Deoband and Terrorism: The Ulema, Deoband and the (Many) Talibans By : S Akbar Zaidi Historical scholarship tends to see a continuity in the Ulema of south Asia – from the Deoband seminary in the 19th century down to the Taliban of
Farewell, Ajmal Khattak: September 15, 1925 – February 7, 2010 With the death of Ajmal Khattak, a renowned leftist-nationalist politician, poet and writer, another chapter in history has closed. Khattak was greatly influenced by Bacha Khan, the great Pakhtun nationalist leader and
The legend of Sadequain: Here is an edited excerpt from the book ‘The legend of Sadequain’ by Sadequain Foundation February 10 marks Sadequain’s 23rd death anniversary. Sadequain Foundation estimates he painted close to 15,000 paintings, murals, calligraphies and drawings. Most of his work
Bottled water sector in Pakistan: What is needed to be done? – by Qudrat Ullah: In Pakistan, the unchecked and more than needed population explosion has heightened the need to ensure uninterrupted access to improved drinking-water supply, especially in mega cities like Karachi and Lahore where traces of multiple deadly rudiments including the human
The Rise of Religious Fundamentalism in Pakistan – by Hamza Alvi: Thanks: Hamza Alavi Internet Archive Religious fundamentalism has become a powerful and dangerous force in Pakistan, due mainly to the opportunism of successive political leadership that has pandered to it. Militant sectarian religious groups and parties, led by half-educated
The myth of Ghazwa-tul-Hind – by Ale Natiq: Ghazwa-tul-Hind: Pakistani flag hoisted at Red Fort, Delhi, India. This image was created and circulated by the Brasstacks.biz (ISI mouth-piece Zaid Hamid’s organization) team. Religion has quite frequently been used as an excuse for military motives. Talking specifically about
A critical analysis of Aafia Siddiqui’s case – by Anas Abbas: First published on: AA Counter Terror Aafia Siddiqui was finally convicted on 4rd February 2010 for trying to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. She is now expected to face a maximum of 60 years in prison. Below is a
Past present: Is Sufism relevant to our time? – by Mubarak Ali: There are some people who, in view of the present religious extremism, believe that if Sufi teachings are revived, religious intolerance and fundamentalism may be controlled. The attempt to revive the past system and old ideas is not a
“Bonus season at the IMF” – Not institutions we destroyed: By Ahmad Nadeem Gehla Institutions of a state are always the first causality of dictatorship. Although dictatorships promote a feeling of ’stability’ which encourages the investor, the absence of institution soon takes away the fruits of stability. The house of cards built by
The cost of being a Muslim League worker – by Humza Ikram: Last week, Shahbaz Shairf finally announced that Nawaz Sharif will not contest the NA 123 election. The official reason given in this regard is that Nawaz Sharif wants to give chance to a party worker who struggled against the Musharaf regime
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
Anatomy of presidential immunity issue – by Malik Muhammad Ashraf: The question of presidential immunity is the most controversial issue at the moment and the intellectuals, politicians and the media outlets are all engaged in guiding and misguiding the masses about the intent and the scope of article 248
A war that remains unreported: The Saudi Arabian war against the Houthis of Yemen: Here is an extensive archive on a war that remains either unreported or misreported in Pakistani and Western media. Ironically, it is a war in which four different players, namely Saudi Arabia, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Al Qaeda and the
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
This is what young Pakistanis are learning: Activists of the JuD hold aloft weapons during an anti-India protest rally in Lahore on Friday
A critical perspective on Geo News – by Usama Bhutto: Every one likes the concept of freedom of media. Yes media should be free but at the same time responsible. Jang group is one of the leading group of news papers in Pakistan. But some time they behave in
Iftikhar Chaudhry has eaten his bread – by Amjad Rashid: It is a fact that almost every human in this world, especially in Pakistan, thinks that: 1) He (or she) is the wisest person with heroic qualities; and 2) He (or she) is the most beautiful person. Although it
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
Aafia Siddiqui: An Objective Overview – by Anas Muhammad: President Asif Ali Zardari directed the government to provide legal assistance to Dr Aafia Siddiqui, after the jury found her guilty on all seven counts. The government of Pakistan has so far spent $2 million in defense of the
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
A brief, and incomplete, historical context to Zaid Hamidism – by Khawer A. Khan: First published on Khawer’s blog Here are some important events that we need to use to understand Hamidism. This is a work in progress. Im sharing it for feedback. 1903: “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, a known forgery,