Nadeem F Paracha Archive
Political talk shows in Pakistan and the honourable lies – by Nadeem F. Paracha: Honourable lies “In the wake of Pakistan’s more aggressive involvement in the US-run ‘war on terror’, the narrative began being tampered with by talk show ‘guests’ — mainly from the Jamat-i-Islami, certain retired generals who still seem nostalgically stuck
Of friends and fire: Taliban’s violence against the JI and Khalid Khwaja – by Nadeem Paracha: On April 19, a Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) rally in Peshawar was attacked by a suicide bomber. The gruesome attack was allegedly engineered and undertaken by members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The irony is that the JI are one of
Asif Zardari and ‘concerned’ journalism – by Nadeem Paracha: What to say of an electronic media some of whose channels, for example, decided to place the cosmetic Shoaib-Sania saga at the top of their main 9:00pm news bulletins on the day the 18th Amendment was passed by the
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
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
Paradox republic – by Nadeem Paracha: Pakistan has been in the news for quite some time now. A country that (until about the early 1980s) was little known and usually mistaken for being a province of India in Europe and the United States, has rapidly
Religious overtones of Pakistani media: It fell from the heavens – by Nadeem Paracha: It fell from the heavens “With the emergence and success of new, more modern sounding, albeit equally conservative and traditionalist preachers in various urban drawing rooms from 1995 onwards, the new trend was picked up by various TV channels
Evolving campus politics – By Nadeem Paracha: In 1947 the only established student organisation in the newly created country of Pakistan was the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), the student-wing of the Muslim League. The Muslim League began to disintegrate as Pakistan’s first ruling party. Consequently, the
Fatima Bhutto: Dad who would be king – by Nadeem Paracha: “Fatima’s attempt at setting the record straight regarding her father is understandable, but her deriding the woman who led her party into power not through the bullet but by the ballot is not.” The much-awaited book by Murtaza Bhutto’s
Al-Zulfikar: The unsaid history – by Nadeem Paracha: Pakistan is infamous for having a history cramped with assorted Islamist and sectarian organisations that have been unleashing havoc on its people and the state for over a decade. But long before violent terror groups like Sipah-e-Shaba, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and
Asif Zardari: The sudden hero – By Nadeem Paracha: The historic passage of the 18th Amendment Bill in the current National Assembly is rightly being paired with the country’s first ‘Constitutional revolution’ i.e. the making and passage of the 1973 Constitution during the government of the country’s first
Faith in democracy: A review of political parties of Pakistan – by Nadeem Paracha: An apt analysis by NFP of the political parties in Pakistan and their attributes and religious tendencies: Islam holds an important place in the workings of society and thus politics of Pakistan, a fact even some of the most
Smug thugs: the shameful role of right wing media in Pakistan – by Nadeem Paracha: The truth is, if men (and some women) gladly sacrifice the concept of responsible (and sane) journalism just so they can pull off a sensational show that would win them fame and a bagful of corporate sponsors, if they
Zaid Hamid, the phoenix, flops on 23 March – by Nadeem Paracha: For months the Zaid Hamid brigade had been congesting cyber space and the two TV channels that the haughty ideological quack is a regular fixture on, with promises of holding a ‘massive gathering of youth’ at the Minar-e-Pakistan on
Mice: Treatment of minorities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan – by Nadeem Paracha: NFP asks if minorities will ever be treated well enough to not feel like misfits. — File photo Some days ago, while waiting in my car for a traffic signal to turn green, a young kid nonchalantly stuck a
We shall overrun: The young, urban, middle-class Pakistani’s manifesto – by Nadeem Paracha and Abbas Baloch: Related article: The Civil Society Bulletin – by Abbas Baloch As always, NFP at his best (Aliarqam) We shall overrun! Source: Dawn Blog 1. Asif Ali Zardari is the devil incarnate. 2. The Pakistan Army is the saviour. 3.
Punjab khappay? – by Nadeem Paracha: According to many emails that I received after posting a blog in the wake of the terrible bomb attacks in Lahore last week, I was ‘spreading politics of ethnicity.’ I don’t know exactly what made these folks think this way,
Glory, piety and politics – by Nadeem Paracha: With Pakistan’s two main political parties looking exhausted by being made to play a continuous game of cat and mouse with the establishment, the new generation of young Pakistanis began to look elsewhere. Many young Pakistanis, who in their
Paradise pulp: How religion imbues the public sphere in Pakistan? – by Nadeem Paracha: Three vignettes revealing how religion really imbues the public sphere. Sticking out Ever since the 1980s, stickers asking people to pray have become a common sight, especially in buses, and on rickshaws. Of course, there is certainly nothing wrong
Jamaat-e-Islami, Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Realpolitik – by Nadeem Paracha: The JI and PTI’s popularity remains limited to a handful to carefully selected talkshows. Realpolitik The recently concluded by-election in Rawalpindi’s NA-55 constituency, the interest and voter turnout it generated, was a healthy sign for the democratic process. It
The rightward march of Pakistan under the leadership of PML-N – by Nadeem Paracha: The active emergence of a revamped PML-N supplemented by an alarmist new electronic media can be detected as a more vocal arrival of the New Right in Pakistan. The rightward march By Nadeem F. Paracha Saturday, 27 Feb, 2010
The shameful role of Geo TV in Rawalpindi by-poll: Our fellow bloggers at Cafe Pyala have recently exposed the shameful role of Geo TV and Hamid Mir in the recent by-elections in NA-55. Nadeem Paracha too has written an article on this topic, an excerpt from which is
First Annual Pakistani Private TV Channels Awards – by Nadeem Paracha: Awards night Hello people, and welcome to the First Annual Pakistani Private TV Channels Awards. I, Wamid Mir, will be your host for the evening and with me will be the lovely, Dr. Shireen Blackwater Baymaari. Let’s kick off
Hijacking Democracy – by Anas Muhammad: Today we live in an increasingly dangerous world, which is filled with people who have their ulterior motives and willingness to harm others to benefit themselves. Our world is filled with criminals, gangsters, murderers, and terrorists. The people who
Clashing egos and the so-called clash between the judiciary and the executive – by Nadeem F. Paracha: Clashing egos The day President Asif Zardari supposedly unleashed yet another round of the so-called clash between the judiciary and the executive – nay, an ‘independent judiciary’ and a ‘tainted, corrupt executive’ – I rushed home to catch the
Urban middle-class activists of Pakistan: A herd of sheep? – by Nadeem F. Paracha: A herd of sheep? Nadeem F. Paracha Sunday, 14 Feb, 2010 What we have at hand as urban middle-class ‘activists’ are actually figurative sheep: NFP. There have been three major occasions when the Pakistani middle-class has broken away from
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
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
Nadeem F. Paracha vs Aamir Liaquat Hussain: Source: Pakistan Media Watch VS Though we typically focus on news talk shows and newspapers, it is not beyond the boundaries to also include some religious television shows. Obviously, this is not a blog about Religion Watch, and I
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
Making sense of the distorted history of Muslims in India – by Nadeem Paracha: “Why do many Pakistanis spend more time celebrating Islamic history of regions outside India (especially Arabian), the ummah, and seem to show more concern in what is happening to their brethren in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kashmir.” Writes Nadeem
The La La Land Internal Jihad Movement of Pakistan – by Nadeem Paracha: The La La Land Internal Jihad Movement of Pakistan (also called LLIMP) is a hybrid vegetable/fruit that is becoming popular among middle-class health food fanatics. The medical benefits of LLIMP have been known since ancient times. The Neanderthals are
Klashni-country: A brief history of the Kalashinkov culture in Pakistan – by Nadeem Paracha: By late 1979, markets in the tribal regions of Pakistan were flooded with AK-47s, smuggled across by Afghan refugees. – File photo The famous Russian assault rifle, the Kalashnikov, also called the AK-47, or Klashni in the street and
A short history of the Babble Media Mujahids – by Nadeem Paracha: Babble Media Mujahids (BMM, and also called, BAAM!) is a group of superheroes operating in Pakistan. They advocate religious tolerance through the killing of heretics and glorification of an independent judiciary. The BMM was formed through divine intervention when
The scholar, the sufi, and the fanatic – by Nadeem Paracha: Roughly speaking, the political and social aspects of Islam in Pakistan can be seen as existing in and emerging from three distinct sets and clusters of thought. These clusters represent the three variations of political and social Islam that
The myths, the madness, and the media – by Nadeem F. Paracha: Among other things, Nadeem Paracha also mentions Hamid Mir’s onslaught against Let Us Build Pakistan in the following article: After talking of the dangerously concocted narratives peddled by the state, government, and religious parties of Pakistan that I mentioned
Pakistan, Islam, General Kayani and One-Unit-Faith – by Nadeem F. Paracha: Smokers’ Corner: One-unit-faith By Nadeem F. Paracha Recently, while giving a speech to the Peshawar police, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said that no one could separate Islam from Pakistan. One wonders what prompted the army chief to digress, and
Little monsters – by Nadeem F. Paracha: There is nothing new anymore about the suggestion that over a span of about 30 odd years, the Pakistani military and its establishmentarian allies in the intelligence agencies, the politicised clergy, conservative political parties and the media have, in
Democrats, beware! – by Nadeem Paracha: In the following article, Nadeem Paracha offers a critical analysis of certain (pro-establishment, pro-Taliban and anti-democracy)elements in Pakistani media (e.g. Dr Shahid Masood, Shaheen Sehbai, Geo TV, and The News) who are dismantling the institution of democracy in Pakistan
Paranoia, perversion, and hypocrisy of Pakistan’s middle class – by Nadeem Paracha: Nauseous mumblings Nadeem F. Paracha Sunday, 22 Nov, 2009 RECENTLY I was fortunate enough to be a part of an excellent ten-minute news video prepared by the New York Times’ reporter, Adam Ellick. Tastefully called ‘Tuning out the Taliban,’