Long live Punjabi Chief Justice and Punjabi fascism!: Accountability — why only non-Punjabis? By Shafiq Awan There can be no doubt that the Supreme Court’s judgement on the National Reconciliation Ordinance was a historic decision and speaks volumes for the independence of the judiciary. But the verdict

If the speaker was a People’s Party law-maker. . . .: PML-N MNA ‘owns’ 7.5 acre house, but has no documents, plan * Documents show objection raised by patwari over ownership of land * Widow claims ownership of 6 acres of land * MNA Afzal Khokhar says he owns property,

Abdullah ibn Ubayy reincarnated as Qazi Mohammad Anwar:

PPP’s commitment and contribution to free press – by Junaid Qaiser: Democracy and free media are co-related; democracy is impossible without a free (unbiased) media, and free media is impossible without democracy. Democracy and free media reinforce each other. Huge credit goes to Pakistan Peoples Party, which is the biggest

Half-truth of the Supreme Court of Pakistan: An interesting conversation: Here are some excerpts from an interesting conversation at pkpolitics where ‘Bawa’, a pro-democracy blogger (with anti-Zardari inclinations), has raised some interesting points about the anti-NRO stance of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. آدھا سچ ہم میں سے ہر

Wali Khan: The Frontier Liberal – by Dr. Muhammad Taqi: Originally published in the Peshawar Statesman: The Frontier Liberal: a tribute to Wali Khan By Dr. Mohammad Taqi January 25, 2010 گریزد از صف ما ہر کہ مرد غوغا نیست کسے کہ کشتہ نہ شد از قبیلہ ما نیست

President Zardari’s advisors – by Saleem Safi: Saleem Safi writes an article questioning the ‘intellect’ and the ‘credibility’ of certain advisors of President Asif Zardari, such as

List of Taliban’s atrocities and crimes in Afghanistan: Those who insist on distinction between the TTP and Afghan Taliban should (be forced to) read this: LUBP Editor’s note: Lately, apologists of the Takfiri Deobandi Taliban (i.e., members and supporters of PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami, PML-N, Sipah-e-Sahaba (ASWJ-LeJ), JUI-F, JUI-S,

Pakistan’s various governments and the approximate periods of their rule – by Kamran Shafi: Below, without comment a list of Pakistan’s various governments and the approximate periods of their rule, or misrule if you will. ‘Caretaker’ governments or those such as Mr Mohammad Khan Junejo’s, Mr Zafarullah Jamali’s and the Private Banker’s have

Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Islam and non-violence — by Ishtiaq Ahmed: Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a man of peace. He approached Islam in the hope of finding a complementary message to Gandhi’s interpretation of Hinduism as Ram Raj and ahimsa (non-violence) and he found it

Leaders of lawyers’ movement oppose the strike call by Qazi Mohammad Anwar: Aitzaz Ahsan termed the decision for a strike premature, warning that it would divide the lawyers’ community. He said the decision had been taken in spite of PM Gilani’s assurance that the NRO judgment would be implemented.

The bad Sufi – by Qalandar Bux Memon: It is often assumed that Sufism stands opposed to Wahhabism. Wrong. Sufism and Wahhabism, in fact, share a fatal characteristic – they are religions of the status quo. In Pakistan, Sufism legitimises barbarities of inequality and starvation – ‘do

accounts of family members of jihadis: From BBC Urdu جہادی کہانیاں یہ بات اب کسی سے ڈھکی چھپی نہیں رہی کہ ماضی میں جہادِ افغانستان اور جہاد کشمیر میں شریک کئی شدت پسند تنظیموں کو پاکستان کے ریاستی اداروں کی مکمل سرپرستی حاصل رہی ہے۔

PPP Government: A window of opportunity for Pakistan – by Junaid Qaiser: In the words of Benazir Bhutto, democracy: “… is a birth right too often snatched at the point of the gun from the citizens by the very men who are to guard and defend us. This can stop to

diruz dar bustan sara (Naat) دیروز در بستان سرا: نعت رسول مقبول صلی الله علیہ و آلہ وسلّم دیروز در بستان سرا، ہمہ طوطیان خوشنوا پڑھتی تھیں نعت مصطفیٰ بلغ العلی بکمالہ

Shazia’s death and the shameful role of the lawyer fraternity: The torture and slaughter of Shazia, a 12-year-old maid, in DHA, Lahore has caused a stir. Here are a few reports which suggest that: 1. Domestic servants in Pakistan, house maids in particular, remain vulunerable and subject to physical, emotional

The post-NRO dynamic – by Talat Masood: In these times when Pakistan is beleaguered with multiple crises — a major insurgency, constant fear of terrorist attacks, lurking danger of economic melt-down, political infighting etc — it is additionally burdened with the unique challenge of managing the

Farewell, Irshad Ahmed Haqqani. Farewell, Harf-e-Tamanna!: 6 September 1928 – 24 January 2010

Mubashir Lucman’s chargesheet against Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry: In an episode of Point Blank by Mubashir Lucman with Wasim Akhtar (MQM) and Fauzia Wahab (PPP), the anchor issued a bold charge-sheet against CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry stating that CJP Chaudhry should have been booked and punishable by death

NRO verdict: a murder of history – by Humza Ikram: Recent NRO verdict is an attempt to distort our 64 years of political history. And the thing which makes me sad the most is that how easily Supreme Court picked up Benazir Bhutto’s book (Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the