Monthly Archive:: October 2010
Ethnic sectarianism infects hospital wards: KARACHI, 24 October 2010 – Religious, political and ethnic divisions have claimed hundreds of lives in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, but also influence the chances of survival for the injured. A doctor in the emergency ward of Civil Hospital
Shame on you Talat Hussain!: Related article On Syed Talat Hussain, Angelina Jolie and Pakistan’s pseudo-liberals Syed Talat Hussain ‘was’ an esteemed columnist, television host and journalist of Pakistan, until today when he targeted someone for following their own harmless cultural norms. In his
Iran restricts social sciences seen as ‘Western’: TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has imposed new restrictions on 12 university social sciences deemed to be based on Western schools of thought and therefore incompatible with Islamic teachings, state radio reported Sunday. The list includes law, philosophy, management, psychology,
Ansar Abbasi says: Nawaz Sharif must refrain from political reconciliation with the PPP: From LUBP old website: Ansar Abbasi advises Nawaz Sharif to refrain from reconciliation. He suggests that politics of reconciliation can be devastating for the country. Really? Good bye, democracy. Welcome, military dictatorship. Whose agenda are you serving Mr. Abbasi?
Pakistan’s Corrupt Generals: An Analysis: By: MUAHAMMAD AAMIR MUGHAL It was Hameed Gul who briefed Zia against the Geneva Accords and got the ISI to badmouth Yaqub Khan who was right once again (after East Pakistan) in siding with prime minister Junejo who had
Imran Khan’s letter to Barack Obama: A critical commentary: Cross-posted from the LUBP old website: Dear President Obama, Your extraordinary ascent to the U.S. Presidency is, to a large part, a reflection of your remarkable ability to mobilize society, particularly the youth, with the message of “change.” Indeed,
PML-N alliance with Musharraf League: Tariq Azeem to meet Nawaz in London: It seems, the Pakistan Muslim league Nawaz and it’s Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif have not learnt a lessons from past experiences.This is a true perception that, the PML-N and it’s leadership always went for their vested interest rather going after
A plain and clear message: to fight the ‘war on terror’: According to foreign media reports, privately, the US warned Pakistan that it risks losing this and other American aid if it does not adopt a more aggressive stance toward militants. In plain words U.S. Warns Pakistan: Fight Taliban or Lose Funding. U.S.
Why are PPP governments violent for Karachi?: Source: Express Tribune KARACHI: It is when the numbers stop meaning anything that Karachi starts to panic. The numerical numbness does not, however, exhaust our hankering for some explanation, any explanation, for the killings. The next best thing we can offer ourselves is
VIEW: The historical significance of October 18th —Lal Khan: Populist leaders do have an effect on the masses. What is also true is that the size and revolutionary fervour of the crowds they pull has an even greater impact on the consciousness of the leaders. The dialectical interaction
Cranky nobility: On PPP’s boycott of Geo TV – by Nadeem F Paracha: Source: Dawn, October 24, 2010 I don’t know what the situation would be once this column goes into print, but a TV channel’s all out, constant outburst against Zardari certainly seems something that has very little to do with
Blast from the past: Unnecessary Criticism of the Kerry Lugar Bill – 8th October 2009: It’s been more than a year that all the hoo-haa started on the Kerry-Lugar Bill. I had written a post then about the Unnecessary Criticism of the aid package. It becomes all the more ironic now that the same
Don’t waste your dollars on media owners in Pakistan – by Ammar Kazmi: Cameras are insured but the photo journalists and field reporters are not, what a mean and inhuman attitude of Pakistan’s media owners that there are no life insurance policies for journalists. I think this is not only a lust
Pakistan’s Youth Runs for First Ever Twitter Parliament: Youth on twitter started a new campaign named ‘Pakistan Twitter Parliament’ #PKTP, where polls for Prime Minister are soon to be held. The Prime Minister will then choose his / her cabinet. In this race a young PPP supporter
From the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill to the current US Aid to Pakistan military: Silence of the (bay) ghairat brigade: While the majority of Pakistan’s pro-military establishment journalists and TV anchors (e.g., Kamran Khan, Ansar Abbasi, Syed Talat Hussain, Hamid Mir, Dr Shahid Masood, Javed Chaudhry, Orya Maqbool Jan, Irfan Siddiqi etc) kept barking against the the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill,
Political agent torturing students – By Farhat Taj: It has been almost ten months now. The political agent (PA) of Khyber in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has subjected 13 students from the Government Degree College, Jamrud, Khyber Agency to acute mental torture. The students’ representative,
Karachi’s civil war: politics by other means – By Dr Mohammad Taqi: About 90 people — 12 in just one instance — were assassinated in Karachi earlier this week and approximately 1,300 have been killed in various acts of violence in the city this year. These are not random or targeted
Judicial appointments, again – by Asad Jamal: Source: Express Tribune The Supreme Court’s short order is somewhat enigmatic as it raises more questions than it answers. It is, however, being hailed by many as a sort of a political compromise. The Order has only addressed
Pakistan, the state that refuses to fail: Every now and then, an article appears in foreign publications like New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Times of London, Time, Economist which makes its headlines in Pakistani newspapers and TV channels. Why it makes headlines followed
Pakistani (pro-establishment) media’s war on politicians: Here is a valuable excerpt cross posted from Pakistan Media Watch: Let us review some recent incidents in our own media that have gone without even the slightest reprimand. On 7 October, a reporter for The Nation, Syed Fawad Ali
Will ‘civil society’ please relax? – By Ayaz Amir: Ayaz Amir has been a respectable columnist of Pakistan though for PPP supporters, he has been a thorn all along. He is now a member of National Assembly from his native Chakwal and this is his second stint
Judiciary on trial – by Kuldip Nayar: While Kuldeep Nayar raises some important questions about the accountability of judges in the Supreme Court of India, LUBP readers will appreciate that similar questions are rather more valid in the Pakistani context. Parliament must realise that the judiciary
18th Amendment: The Parliament must not surrender its sovereignty to grade-22 bureaucrats in the Supreme Court: The Supreme Court’s order (on the 18th amendment) throws light on certain very important issues about the court’s recent role and function in our constitutional democracy. The court has been stretching beyond its constitutional mandate. Suo motu notices were
Pakistan’s media piling on president – Washington Post: It seems that the Western Media is coming to see through what Pakistani media is doing. Having repeatedly picked up stories on an as is basis, Washington Post has questioned the recent frenzy created by the media. They have
Reconstitution of National Economic Council: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has advised President Asif Ali Zardari to reconstitute the National Economic Council (NEC) by including the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan as Members of the NEC.He also advised for inclusion of the
Christians protest chapel violently taken over by Muslims; pastor says “The local parliamentarians of the PML-N do not want a church here.”: A nonviolent protest and an outdoor Mass: this is how Christians in Pakistan intend to raise awareness in the national government and public opinion regarding the case of an illegal occupation of the Christian Chapel at Gordon College in
U.S. Warns Pakistan: Fight Taliban or Lose Funding: By ADAM ENTOUS and JULIAN E. BARNES in Washington and TOM WRIGHT in New Delhi Obama administration officials have privately warned Pakistani leaders that continued inaction against Taliban and al Qaeda havens bordering Afghanistan could jeopardize some of the large U.S. cash
Zikr-e-Shahab: Remembering Qudrat Ullah Shahab: Compiled by: Abdul Nishapuri Qudratullah Shahab Shahab at a UNESCO session in Paris with Sahibzadah Yaqub Ali Khan At a sufi shrine in Canton, China, with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Shahab with General Ayub Khan in a function of Pakistan
Ahsan Iqbal, gangster from Narowal? Is this the level of PML-N’s leadership?: Cross-posted from LUBP old web-site Ahsan Iqbal: Background Information From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ahsan Iqbal (born September 28, 1958 in Lahore) is a Pakistani politician and the former Federal Minister for Education. He is also the information secretary
Why do all PPP haters dislike Senator Babar Awan?: It is a fact that Federal Law Minister, Senator Babar, is a thorn in the side of all PPP haters, right from Justice Khalil Ramday (of the Supreme Court of Pakistan) to Justice Khwaja Sharif (of the Lahore High
Understanding the Karachi violence – by Nadeem Paracha: A changed political landscape This may sound surprising, but the truth is that the recent spat of violence in Karachi is quite unprecedented. Violence between the city’s major political parties and ethnicities has been an unwelcome aspect of the
The ‘PPP-centric’ judiciary should also reopen other cases of the opposition: Pakistan’s supreme court has asked parliament to review a constitutional amendment that would see senior court judges appointed by a parliamentary committee, delaying a potential divisive change to the relationship between the judiciary and the government. The ruling on Thursday came
Danish School Project, a commendable initiative of the Punjab government – by Ashraf Sohail: The following article was sent to the LUBP by Ashraf Sohail. It was previously published in daily Waqt.
City of Widows and Orphans – By Hasan Mujtaba: پاکستان میں تحریک بحالی جمہوریت کی ‘شہید’ بیگم نصرت بھٹو نے کئی برس پہلے کراچی کے حالات پر کہا تھا کہ اگر فرسٹریشن، غربت اور بیروزگاری کراچی میں حالات کی خرابی کی ذمہ دار ہیں تو پھر سب سے
The Courts vs PPP – by Ali Asad: President Asif Zardari has said that the courts have never imparted justice to PPP. What he has said is not untrue! I want to tell a gory tail of injustice to Mr. Asif Zardari by the courts including
Being a Hindu in Pakistan – by Marvi Memon: The writer is a PML-Q MNA marvi.memon@tribune.com.pk It’s not easy these days being a Hindu in Pakistan. The number of cases of members of the Hindu community being kidnapped for ransom is on the rise, both in Sindh and
Can we change our ‘hate-India’ mindset? – by Shahzad Chaudhry: The writer is a defence analyst and retired as air-vice marshal in the Pakistan Air Force Pakistan has been in the throes of a rumoured reconstitution of the government under the army’s patronage, similar to what Bangladesh enacted in
The ‘non-decision’ on 18th amendment: Go east, go west, our Supreme Court is the best!: Related article: 18th Amendment: The Parliament must not surrender its sovereignty to grade-22 bureaucrats in the Supreme Court The Supreme Court has ordered that Article 175-A that has been amended through the epic 18th Amendment be sent back to