Faith in trade – by Nadeem F. Paracha: The urban trader class in Muslim countries — usually comprising middle-class urbanites — is a conservative section of society. In Pakistan too it has been one of the most willing recipients of faith-based socio-political trends and phenomena that began
The Kurram conundrum — by Farhat Taj: Kurram Agency has been in turmoil since the violent sectarian clashes of 2007. Since then thousands of Sunni and Shia families have been displaced, hundreds killed and the Parachinar-Tal road is unsafe for Shia travel. Shia travellers on the
26 target killers shook Karachi: Pulse Exclusive Report: Related Articles: Eerie silence on the 26 target killers Last week a few sections of our press covered parts of the JIT report on target killers in Karachi. That itself was startling telling us where the killers belonged to.
Can’t wait for Muharram? – by Imran Khan: Cross-posted from I Opyne The Taliban strike again, while Peshawar and other cities in Pakhtunkhwa had been targeted frequently, this time they decided to hit the big cities, i.e. Karachi and Lahore. 11 people have died so far with more
An open letter to Rehman Malik – by Sana Saleem: Related post: Focus on religious madrassahs and their mentors instead of Rehman Malik – by Dr. Saifurrehman Cross-posted from The Dawn Blog Dear Mr. Rehman Malik, I recently found out that you have decided to take action (aka, block,
A brainwashed fanatic kills Governor Punjab Salman Taseer: An extremist and religious fanatic (reportedly of the Barelvi sect) killed Governor Punjab Salman Taseer in a brazen attack in Islamabad today. Governor Punjab had received death threats from the following because of his bold stance on the blasphemy
Extremist Deobandis kill two Shia teachers in D.I.Khan: It seems that the recent release of Qari Saifullah Akhtar of the Sipah-e-Sahaba / Taliban by the ISI / Punjab Government has brought some results. The recent wave of the anti-Shia violence in the country (in view of recent
Attack on Shia students in Karachi: Related article: Dawn: A “cracker” of a job confusing the public with euphemisms – by Qudsia Siddiqui A bomb blast reported at the University of Karachi today injuring at least 15 students. The blast took place outside the main
Extremist Deobandis’ attack on Ghazi Baba shrine in Peshawar: Attack on shrine in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa kills three PESHAWAR: Gunmen attacked the Ghazi Baba shrine overnight in Budhber, on the outskirts of Peshawar, and killed three caretakers. “At least five militants attacked the shrine and opened indiscriminate fire, killing three
Pakistan’s endangered Sufi spirit – by Shaheen Buneri: A man weeps while praying for victims at the Data Darbar Sufi shrine in Lahore, , where a double suicide attack in July killed 40 people and injured more than 200. Peace, tolerance, and humanity are the fundamental values
Kafir kafir Shia kafir, jo na manay wo bhi kafir – by Zalaan: This is an excellent post by Zalaan which describes how extremist Deobandis of Sipah-e-Sahaba (Taliban) are at the root cause of sectarian and jihadi terrorism in Pakistan. (It is a known fact that extremist Deobandis are responsible for almost
Sleeping with the enemy – by Gulmina Bilal Ahmad: The floods are devastating. They have been called the most unprecedented disaster due to natural causes in recent years. Although there are some analysts who argue that this is not a natural disaster but a man-made one since the
Mad in the middle- By Nadeem F. Paracha: The political and social aspects of Islam in Pakistan can be seen as existing in and emerging from three distinct clusters of thought. These clusters represent the three variations of political and social Islam that have evolved in
Unite from Parachinar to Karachi – by Riaz Toori: Source: The Express Tribune Scenic Parachinar belies an undeclared human rights free zone where they have no legal protection. Years ago, when in my hometown Parachinar and in other tribal areas, malicious actions were initiated by inhuman terrorists against