Pak Tea House » Archive
Poem: The Flour Deaths
Do we need? The Prime Minister House The President’s palace The great old parliament The Muppets of our bureaucracy The old feudal lords, And the thousands acres The old hands of dictators And the warmth of lies From the leaders of our present Do we need? The ruins of our existence From one crisis to another In the land enriched in its soil From the fertile plains of Indus To the rivers of the north The old seasons of harvest In the mockery of our times From the creation of promise To the hardened … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Tragedy in Karachi
Bilal Qureshi Tragedy stuck Karachi Pakistan the other day when about 20 women died from suffocation while attempting to collect wheat flour that was distributed by a charity. It isn’t the only time that poor Pakistanis have died tragically, but this one is especially awful because it started with very good intentions. Because the price of flour is very high in Pakistan during Ramadan, a rice trader decided to help the poor in the community by giving away for free what is scarce and expensive – wheat flour, but his desire to help the poor destroyed at least 20 families. President has ordered an inquiry, but it is obvious that no body will be held accountable for these tragic deaths. Actually, from what I have heard and read about the incident, it … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
From Russia with Love: Main Ney Russia Mee kya Dekha
Bradistan Calling When Pakistan came into existence in 1947, Russia was known as the Godless Empire of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics under brutal dictator Joseph Stalin. This inherent difference in ideologies resulted in tensions from the very start, but the refusal of the first prime minister of Pakistan to accept the cordial invitation of the Soviet leadership to visit USSR started the full scale Cold War. The rest, as they say, is history. Pakistan decided to accept the invitation of United States of America (the head of ‘Free’ Capitalist and Godly world).Pakistan joined anti-communist military pacts and gave its logistic support for Korean War in 1950s.Despite the unwavering loyalty of Pakistani military and landlord elite, USA refused to provide military assistance and spare parts during 1965 Kashmir war with India. The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, baluchistan, Citizens, culture, Economy, Education, Europe, FATA, History, human rights, Identity, Imperialism, India, Islam, journalism, Labour, Left, magazines, Media, minorities, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Peshawar, Politics, Punjabi, quetta, Religion, Sindh, south asia, Taliban, Terrorism, Urdu, USA, youth, Zardari
Ramzan and Capitalism
by Taimur Rahman Ramzan is supposed to be a month where one is supposed to abstain from the material and other pleasures of the world. It is a month when we are supposed to find out what it feels like to have little or nothing. Those who have plenty are supposed to know what it feels like to have nothing. The rich are supposed to give alms to the poor. The general feeling one gets is that it should be a period when the rich abstain from consumption and help the poor. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Mera Sahib – Saadat Hassan Manto's Classic
Saadat Hassan Manto wrote this classic in the early 1950s in Lahore. The translation here is by writer who writes under the num de plume “Godot” “It happened in 1937. The Muslim League was in its juvenility. I, too, was a young man. I wanted to do something. Anything. Besides, I was healthy and strong, and wanted to engage in a rumble. I wanted to look for trouble and pick fights. I was at an age when one longs to do somethingBy something, I mean to say, if not a great adventure than something! … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Poem: The Stars Are So Distant
There remains a mystery to our questions Of who we are and where we belong Of all our quests and questions, The miracles we perform through science Through words of literature and philosophy Through years of humanity and its demise As we ponder in silence and as we reach out There remains a spectacle, far from our wisdom The mankind only to serve, the purpose Of the creation and of our Creator How we live and serve, how we kill and maim In the name of … Read entire article »
Filed under: poetry
Jack Lew's briefing challenges Pakistani media disinformation
Beena Sarwar Yesterday there was a front page report in The News (Sept 13) – “US says no direct money to PPP government,” supposedly based on the briefing by Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew - The claims in the report vary wildly from the transcript of Mr Lew’s briefing, available here – which is actually quite optimistic about Pakistan. Briefing on Recent Trip to South Asia Jacob J. Lew Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Washington, DC September 11, 2009 [Pakistan section] And in Pakistan, we focused on a number of issues. I think, as you all know, with the Kerry-Lugar program being worked through now in Congress and the budget process working through, in terms of the appropriations, we’re ready to take the next step and put a detailed … Read entire article »
Masters of Mutilation
Ayesha Jalal (India Today) Whether you are Hindus, Muslims, Parsis or Christians,” Jinnah said in April 1942 to journalists in Allahabad, “all I can say to you is that, however much I am criticised, however much I am attacked and today I am charged with hate in some quarters, I honestly believe that the day will come when not only Muslims but this great community of Hindus will also bless, if not during my lifetime, after … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
President Zardari Rejects Obama’s New Afghanistan Strategy
Bilal Qureshi I can’t think of anyone in any government in Pakistan has ever openly rejected anything proposed by Washington before Pakistan’s current President, Asif Zardari publicly and strongly rejected Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Speaking to Financial Times, President Zardari correctly pointed out when he said: “Afghanistan and Pakistan are distinctly different countries and cannot be lumped together for any reason.” In reality, Pakistan has always objected whenever Pakistan was linked with Afghanistan for a broad policy frame work to stabilize the region. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Islamabad, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, Zardari
Don't Let The Devil Dazzle you
Bilal Qureshi ” Our biggest problem isn’t caves, its credibility. Our messages lack credibility because we haven’t invested enough in building trust and relationships, and we haven’t always delivered on promises” writes Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff in an article for US military Journal, Joint Force Quarterly, while referring to the Muslim World. Yankees credibility crisis might be a rattling revelation at home but not for the rest of the world. As America is a famous architect of duplicitous policies and White house is commonly viewed as a ruthless Wizard’s House … Read entire article »
Dictators and their sons
The views expressed in this article are those of the author Ahmad Nadeem Gehla I have no experience of dealing with dictators or even their sons. Our generation however witnessed the brutality of former dictator Zia ul Haq against media, civil society, poets, writers and political workers. It has been two decades since former dictator burned in skies and things have changed drastically. Media and information technology has not only made information easily available but also developed a culture of civilized debate. The civil society has reorganized itself and has shown that it can stand firm against dictators during lawyer’s movement. What has not changed is the mind set of dictator’s sons and their cronies. We are witnessing the retired generals and brigadiers coming to electronic media with revelations and defending their unconstitutional … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Who runs the show in Pakistan?
We are publishing another piece by Bilal Qureshi authored for PTH. We are publishing it with the disclaimer that the views expressed are those of the author’s. PTH Admn I have been studying, talking about, discussing, speaking about and writing about Pakistani politics for about 20 years and I have to admit that I still don’t have a clue about who runs the show in Pakistan. However, now, I have started to understand why almost every Pakistani is obsessed with the role of intelligence agencies in Pakistan’s politics. For example, after 17 years, Brigadier (Retd) Imtiaz has told a television channel that the army chief, the intelligence wing of the Pakistan army and other people in uniform had conspired (not sure how else to describe it) against Mutihada Quami Movement (MQM) and … Read entire article »
'the demand for Pakistan' and the partition of India
Courtesy Tehelka “It is a mistake to equate the demand for Pakistan with the partition of India” Ayesha Jalal, Pakistani historian and author of The Sole Spokesman, picks through the tangle of the Jinnah controversy with Shoma Chaudhury By Shoma Chaudhury What strikes you, personally, as the sharpest irony of the Jinnah- Jaswant Singh controversy and its fallout in India? What strikes me as most ironic is the extent to which the ”’secular’ Congress and the ‘communal’ BJP end up subscribing to the same common idioms of Indian nationalism when it comes to Pakistan and its most potent symbol, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Jinnah of the 1916 Lucknow Pact where Sarojini Naidu hailed him as the “ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity”; Jinnah of the 1940 Lahore Declaration and two-nation theory; Jinnah … Read entire article »
Pious follies
By Nadeem Farooq Paracha Islam is believed to be the basis of nationalism on which the Pakistani state was constituted, even though this notion continues to be hotly contested. Liberals hold the view that Pakistan was created for the Muslim community of India, which Muhammad Ali Jinnah treated as a separate ethnic and cultural community, rather than a strictly religious group demanding an Islamic theocracy. Either way Islam is accepted as the core social and political institution in Pakistan, giving it a special role in Pakistani society. … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Identity, Islam, Islamism, Media, Multinational Corporations, Pakistan, Religion, Society
Poem: The Leader
They say inspire us, will you hear them? Will you travel with the wind and the moon? Where dreams are high as the minarets As the sky opens up where the eagles fly Near the old ruins, where rivers flow Help us and we will lend you all you need Let that spirit of ours be yours for a change Feel how is to live with days and nights As we extend, as we move, for oasis unknown As our hearts filled with pride, in broken light From the promise of youth to the wisdom of time Remain where you are, where nothing will change If we are the nation, then where will you find Us, near you or far apart in deserts remains Feel that pulse, as the clock ticks away In those hours, in that distance, in that silence Will we ever hear words, … Read entire article »
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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