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Islamic Failure
Pervez Hoodbhoy , Feb 2002. Courtesy Prospect If the world is to be spared what future historians might call the “century of terror,” we will have to chart a course between US imperial arrogance and Islamic religious fanaticism. Through these waters, we must steer by a distant star toward a democratic, humanistic and secular future. Otherwise, shipwreck is certain. … Read entire article »
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Jinnah's Pakistan in Retreat
From The News By Maleeha Lodhi An event in the life of a nation sometimes has deeper significance than what appears on the surface. The accord by which the government all but ceded administrative and judicial control to militants and their Taliban affiliates in Swat is such a development. This has profound implications for the country that have been obscured by the facile discussions on many TV talk shows. It may well mark a turning point in the country’s struggle with rising militancy. The Swat deal signifies several things all at once. First and foremost it represents a retreat for Jinnah’s Pakistan. Whatever the apologists of the deal may claim, it is the very antithesis of the vision and ideals inspired by the country’s founder, the core of which was a modern, unified … Read entire article »
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Pakistanis fear for their nation
By Bronwyn Curran from The National Pakistan’s liberal leadership capitulates to Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, what is often described as the world’s “most dangerous nation” faces the biggest existential struggle of its short life. … Read entire article »
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Denial-istan
by Farrukh Rehan Every morning I roll out of bed and scan the papers on the net. Today, like most days, I find something distressing about Pakistan. As part of my new routine I call my younger brother in Lahore. The exchange is familiar to both of us: No, he wasn’t near the suicide bombing/commando attack/ mammoth demonstration/drone fired missile. Yes he will be careful and will not visit fancy restaurants where he may be targeted in an attack against “Western” establishments, and yes, he agreed, he will not go to pray at mosques either, which perplexingly also seem to be a favoured target of the radical Islamic extremists who send the suicide bombers. It is a devastating failure of state for any country when its citizens have to think twice before … Read entire article »
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Bano Apa, I will miss you!
by JZ On a chilly evening last December I decided to stop by a music store in Clifton known to have the largest stock of classical and semi classical music from both sides of the Wagah border. While browsing through the shelves, I spotted some CDs of Iqbal Bano and had a sudden craving to listen to her. I bought two CDs instantly. From that day onwards, I got hooked to her music that I was listening to after a long time, my favorite being her thumri ab ke sawan ghar aaja. As I got deeper into her music, I had this urge to talk to her for she had been living in the oblivion for long. I called her Garden Town residence but could not speak to her. … Read entire article »
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In Memoriam – The Great Iqbal Bano (1935-2009)
By Fawad Zakariya Iqbal Bano, one of the great exponents of semi-classical ghazal singing in the sub-continent, passed away in Lahore at the age of 74. I have recounted a reverie precipitated by her beautiful rendition of Faiz’s ghazal “Yeh mausam-e-gul” in a previous post. The Pakistani newspaper Dawn has a good obituary of Iqbal Bano here and some great photos of the icon in their media gallery. She was born in Delhi in 1935 and … Read entire article »
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Pakistani singer Iqbal Bano dies
PTH expresses its deepest sorrow at the passing away of the legendary Iqbal Bani who shall never be forgotten and live through her music. RR M Ilyas Khan of BBC News reports as under: Renowned Pakistani singer Iqbal Bano died on Tuesday in the eastern city of Lahore aged 74…. Ms Bano was best known for her semi-classical Urdu ghazal songs and classical thumris, but also sang easy-listening numbers in 1950s films. Few singers of classical music matched the … Read entire article »
Taliban's agenda for disintegration of Pakistan
By A Ameer THE growing threat of violent extremism in different parts of Pakistan including Fata and Malakand Division is a matter of serious concern. The harrowing factor is that the writ of the Taliban is solidifying both in the north and the south not only in the Pashtun belt but also in the heartland of Pakistan. That a high-level provincial official posted in Swat should write a letter to the NWFP home department implying the complicity of the commissioner of Malakand Division in the ever-expanding influence of the Taliban in the region is an illustration of what is happening and how. … Read entire article »
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The House of Bilquis: Tales of Pakistani Diaspora
From the Wall Street Journal By JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG In Azhar Abidi’s new novel, “The House of Bilqis,” the Pakistani-born author raises a series of difficult questions: What are the consequences of leaving home and marrying outside one’s culture? And how does one address familial obligations, never stated but always present, that demand sacrifices grown children don’t want to make? … Read entire article »
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Myths
Originally published in Dawn some 24 years ago. The author now is a great leader in his own right. His contribution here was as an historian. Part of this argument was explored in “Indus Saga and the Making of Pakistan”. By Aitzaz Ahsan When the rationalist abdicates his function and the obscurantist holds the field unchallenged, dogma is born. Its scope is narrow; its potential nil; its utility “non est”. Yet it is not a nullity. Dogma is negatory of growth, and recusant of progress. It is another name for stagnation. To take and maintain its hold upon upon the minds of men, the dogmatist creates a mythological system. Myths become his vehicle. The common denominator between myths and dogma is an absence of reason and logic. Both complement each other. The origins of … Read entire article »
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Supreme Court, Sharia and Sufi
By Yasser Latif Hamdani 16th March 2009 was a great day in Pakistan’s history. We managed to defeat the forces of status quo and established for ourselves an independent judiciary. It seems like a life time ago though- and it is only 20th of April, 2009. … Read entire article »
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Taliban might be using Swat Women as sex slaves
Taliban’s new scam ladies and gentlemen. Claiming to provide an avenue for “love marriage” (between boys and girls who haven’t seen each other) they are using their position to abduct and forcibly marry young women in Swat but they call it “marriage of choice”. You have to read between the lines. What the heck is our government doing? … Read entire article »
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Jinnah's Secularism
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the statesman, awaits a fair assessment, warts and all, which must include his own mistakes and grave lapses. From The Hindu By A G Noorani THERE is an aspect to L.K. Advani’s comments on Jinnah at Karachi which has been overlooked. A month or so earlier, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the rabid Jamaat-e-Islami leader of Pakistan, had denounced Jinnah’s famous presidential speech to Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947. Advani’s praise and quotation from the speech has boosted the morale of Pakistan’s secularists who always cited it. … Read entire article »
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PTH biweekly Cartoon
Picture of the Week
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Sunrise at the Arabian Sea, Charna Island
24 Dec 2011
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