The standards the Supreme Court is setting for others, shouldn’t it be applying some of them to itself? – by Ayaz Amir: The new troika: Islamabad diary The political landscape is undergoing a shift, with some of the rules of engagement changing. Consequently, it is no longer true to say that the president, the prime minister and the army chief constitute Pakistan’s

A tale of a jihadi Mullah who did not want to join the Afghan jihad – by Nadeem Paracha: A tale of two calls A month before Benazir Bhutto decided to return from exile in 1986 to challenge the Ziaul Haq dictatorship, I was an 18-year-old student at a local college in Karachi. Studying economics and commerce, I

Pakistani labourers’ fair demands – by I.A. Rehman: Since it is not possible to push a new bill through parliament in two days the government has only two options. It may have the proposed new legislation issued as an ordinance or take refuge under the oft-criticised subterfuge

Sanam Bhutto’s rebuttal to Fatima Bhutto’s book: Sanam disputes Fatima’s views Friday, 30 Apr, 2010 AS the last surviving child of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, I feel a sense of obligation to respond to some of the allegations made by my niece Fatima Bhutto in her

Where is the Baitullah Mehsud audiotape?: The easiest way for the military to put to rest any suspicions that the Musharraf government was involved in the death of Benazir Bhutto is to produce the audiotape of the conversation between Baitullah Mehsud and his associate which

Who Killed Benazir – Business recorder editorial: Source: Business Recorder: EDITORIAL (April 29 2010): Better late than never; two years and four months on, President Zardari has finally broken his silence and disclosed who killed Benazir Bhutto. He ‘knew the killer’, as he said at the

LNG Verdict: Further Sign of a Military / Judicial nexus – New Pakistan: Source New Pakistan: LNG Verdict: Further Sign of Military-Judicial Nexus? April 29th, 2010 The Supreme Court’s verdict against a billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contract on Wednesday has been met mostly with uninterest, most people seeming to view

Bravo Chief Justice! We look forward to your involvement in Army’s and Corporate Sector’s promotions too in the near future – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi: I have tears of joy in my eyes when I see these “amazing” decisions being taken by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Yesterday’s decision to declare the Prime Minister’s decision to promote 54 senior civil servants from grade 21

PPP to nominate Pervez Musharraf as prime culprit of Benazir’s murder: Jehangir Badr: Source Online: KARACHI: The secretary general PPP Jehangir Badr has announced that the government would nominate the former President Pervez Musharraf as the prime culprit of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. Answering a question while addressing a press conference, regarding clearing

A curse and a prayer: A Curse First, a curse on Senator Faisal Raza Abidi for his ruthless handling of anti-PPP anchors in various talk-shows (not least our dear Dr Shahid Masood). jav’s comment: عابدی بدنام تو پہلے بھی بہت تھا …مگر اتنا برا

Pakistan will not be the first to use nuclear weapons against India – by Hussain Bux Mallah: Zulifqar Ali Bhutto was the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear programme when he was a federal minister for fuel, power and natural resources during Ayub Khan’s government. He continued the nuclear programme as President and then Prime Minister of Pakistan

Sleeping with the enemy: Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi fulfilling establishment’s designs – by Ahsan Abbas Shah: For the last few months, loyalists and jiyalas of the PPP have been quietly witnessing what may be termed as suspicious activities and statements of Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi. Right from their participation and statements in the notorious

Did Rehman Malik and Babar Awan kill Benazir Bhutto?: After the indictment of General Pervez Musharraf and some of his cronies in Pakistan’s military and civil establishment by the UN Commission, certain agents of the establishment in Pakistani media and politics have become active in their traditional diversion

Achievements of the democratic government: A moment for optimism — by Farahnaz Ispahani: The strategy evolved by the government, in consultation with the army and other stakeholders, and the determination shown by it in the face of heavy odds led to a complete ouster of the extremists from Swat The passage of

Democracy versus ‘the establishment’ in Pakistan: The shadow of the Establishment At independence, Pakistan inherited an over-developed colonial state structure, a relatively weak political class, and a fragmented society from the British. Rather than sparing efforts for nation-building, the colonial state structure, designed to maintain

Don’t you ever get tired , Kamran Khan? – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi: My clearest memory of Kamran Khan is of December 1996, when he came on PTV with a laptop in front of him, talking about the corruption of then recently ousted Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto and her “notorious” husband, now

Target killing of Professor Nazima Talib Mehdi: Shame on BLA terrorists. Where are your Baloch traditions?: Only a few days ago, the LUBP published a detailed account of target killings of intellectuals, bureaucrats, security personnel, educationists, politicians, particularly of non-Baloch origin, by terrorists of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other sectarian/jihadi groups. Today is a

Islami nizam – by Wahiduddin Khan: Here is another article by Moulana Waheedudeen khan on Islami Nizam. Contributed by: Farhan Qaisar

Saleh Zaafir should be taken to foreign trips more often – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi: Jang Group’s (apparently) senior correspondent Muhammad Saleh Zaafir has been seen in recent times as a staunch antagonist of the PPP government. His reporting has a way of supporting (right wing) elements who have some sort of grudge against

Questions, more questions about the ISI’s involvement in Benazir Bhutto’s murder – by Kamran Shafi: Is Benazir Bhutto’s dupatta missing because it has a bullet hole in it? –File Photo So then, the UN report is out, setting many cats on many dovecotes (or is it mongooses on snake pits?), even hitherto forbidden dovecotes.

Children as domestic workers — by Syed Mohammad Ali: Our parliamentarians need to show the will to act and bring domestic child labour within the ambit of the law. However, the fact that many of them also continue to employ children in their rural and urban homes is

The kidnapped: Why did Punjabi Taliban capture Colonel Imam and Khalid Khwaja? – by Rahimullah Yusufzai: The kidnapped Rahimullah Yusufzai There is no doubt that North Waziristan is dangerous territory. It is a major sanctuary of local and foreign militants espousing diverse causes. No other place in the world has been subjected to so many

Political interpretation of religion – by Wahiduddin Khan: Introduction (adapted from Yoginder Sikand’s article in Milli Gazette) Coming to terms with the challenges of modernity has been a major concern of many Muslim scholars and Islamic activists. How can Islam as a universal ideology be expressed in

Economic Restructuring in Pakistan – by Atif Abbas: The LUBP is pleased to share with our readers a research paper written by Atif Abbas (Insaf Research Wing) on economic restructuring in Pakistan. The research paper was first published at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) official website: Link: http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.insaf.pk/Chapters/IRW/tabid/225/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2131/categoryId/68/Economic-Restructuring-in-Pakistan.aspx

Who if not Baitullah? By Amir Mir: The United Nations Inquiry Commission report into Bhutto’s murder has put Musharraf regime in the dock The three-member United Nations Inquiry Commission has almost absolved the slain Ameer of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Commander Baitullah Mehsud of the Bhutto murder

Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic lllusion of an Islamic State – by Tarek Fatah: The LUBP is pleased to present for the benefit of our readers a PDF of Tarek Fatah’s book Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic lllusion of an Islamic State (2008). The book is dedicated to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and Daniel

God, Qazi Anwar and I – by Hakim Hazik: Extraordinary Rendition By: Hakim Hazik Source: Justice Denied We don’t need bread, we need ideology.  We don’t need a country, we need a religion. We don’t want our children to go to school, get qualifications and live in prosperity. We

A hard-hitting report – by Asma Jahangir: Source: Dawn THE UN inquiry report on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination may not be an eye-opener but it does put the record straight and fixes responsibility for the tragedy. Responses to the report have been mixed. Some have been dismissive

Make new provinces only on administrative grounds?: By Abdul Nishapuri Source: Saraiki Waseb Development Organization (SWADO) In today’s The News, I read an interesting article on the possibility of new provinces by Saleem Safi. It seems that after months and years of effectively campaigning for the

In defence of the UN Commission Report on Benazir Bhutto’s murder – by Hamid Mir: وہ سچ جو ہمیں پسند نہ آیا …قلم کمان …حامد میر سچ یہ ہے کہ ہمیں صرف اپنی پسند کا سچ سننے اور کہنے کی عادت پڑ چکی ہے ۔ جو سچ ہمیں پسند نہ آئے اسے جھوٹ قرار

The outcome of fighting the footsoldiers and mentoring the masterminds: Can there be an end to this war? — by Daud Khattak Friday’s attack on a convoy of army soldiers in North Waziristan and the fresh wave of violence in parts of the newly-renamed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa signifies that armed

Media wars in Pakistan — by Shahzad Chaudhry: Along with projecting oneself as a peacenik, bashing the military is the easiest route to establishing the credentials of intellectual elitism in the overly expressive socio-political environment of Pakistan An electronic media explosion in this country has thrust open

Slow and painful death of the Left movement in Pakistan: Left fortunes Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif raised a very important question while addressing the International Literary and Cultural Conference in Lahore the other day. He pointed out that inequitable and unjust distribution of resources has brought Pakistan to

Q&A about supremacy of parliament or judiciary – by Khalid Wasti: =============================== پارلیمینٹ اور عدلیہ کے حوالے سے سوال و جواب =============================== اٹھارویں ترمیم –  اٹھارہ پوائنٹس (1) ———– سوال : حکمرانی کا حق کس کا ہے ؟ – فوج کا ؟ – بیوروکریسی کا ؟ – سپریم کورٹ کا

Hypocrisy, self-centred delusion, or a simple case of Islamism now losing its bearings? – by Nadeem Paracha: Lost bearings? A few weeks ago a young lady wrote a moving blog for dawn.com called ‘Confessions of a hijabi,’ she predictably rambled on about how painful it has been for her to hold on to her hijab in

Shaheen Sehabi Explains What It Means To “Have No Shame”: Source: Pakistan Media Watch Amir Mateen’s attempt a script writing seems to have disappointed ‘The Godfather’ of wild storylines, Amir’s mentor Shaheen Sehbai. In today’s The News (23 Apr 2010), Sehbai shows Mateen how to really write an attack column. Sehbai’s column targets his

Short March to Despotism – by Asad Sayeed: Asad Sayeed’s timely article highlights the dangerous path being currently coursed by the country’s Judiciary where the mandate of 170 million people is not considered more important than the political vendetta of the establishment. Short March to Despotism For

A Reponse to Cold War Thinking in Today’s Afghanistan: Pretext A former USAID director from 1950s Afghanistan insists that the Taliban were and are a good option for Afghanistan, and Afghans can’t govern themselves. My Response: Really? So it was a good thing to imprison women, conduct ethnic

UN report….It’s just that our gods behave badly: Does anyone really think that anyone with a military title in front of their name is going to get persecuted? Though I am sure they will pass on the blame on to the people who drove the tankers that

Ansar Abbasi’s investigative journalism and the convicted local spies of the RAW, CIA, FBI and Mossad – by Ahmed Iqbalabadi: It pains me to read yet another piece of sensational investigative journalism by Ansar Abbasi that appeared on back page of Daily Jang (25 April 2010)  and The News (24th April, 2010). The sub heading in Jang is mindboggling