Pak Tea House » Archive
Jundallah vs. The Mullahtariat
By Pepe Escobar Fasten your seat belts; it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. As a crucial subplot of the New Great Game in Eurasia, Balochistan – on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border – promises turbulence aplenty. Welcome to United States General Stanley McChrystal’s self-fulfillment prophecy – “Chaos-istan” in action. … Read entire article »
Filed under: baluchistan, Iran, Pakistan
An Interview With Ilyas Kashmiri
Here at PTH, we find we have usually got better things to do than to try and delve into the mind of a terrorist. But they say it is important to know your enemy. In mid-September, there were reports that an important ‘Al-Qaeda commander’ Ilyas Kashmiri had been killed by an American drone attack in North Waziristan. These reports turned out to be false. Here is an interview the wanted man gave to Asia Time’s Syed Saleem Shahzad a few days ago. The claims and views expressed below are the author’s and/or as reported by him. PTH does not necessarily share these views nor are we in a position to confirm or disprove the veracity of any alleged facts – PTH. He invited this correspondent to a secret hideout in the South Waziristan-Afghanistan border area, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
The Dishonest Crooks of Our Urdu Press
By Yasser Latif Hamdani Ladies and gentlemen I have long harped on about the paucity of honesty, integrity, intellect and just common sense that is common place in our Urdu Press. Needless to say the googlies of people like Hamid Mir, Oria Jaan Maqbool, Javed Chaudhry etc can make anyone’s headspin. A Lahore based English weekly has a special section dedicated to the bloopers of the Urdu press which is comment enough on such matters. … Read entire article »
Filed under: journalism, Karachi
Turf Wars
Why Pakistan’s military hates America’s new aid package. BY AYESHA SIDDIQA To the surprise of many Americans, Pakistan does not seem too excited at the prospect of receiving U.S. aid. The conditions in the Kerry-Lugar bill, which would provide Pakistan with $7.5 billion in economic aid over the next five years, have been derided by Pakistani opposition parties as “humiliating.” The Pakistani daily Dawn even reported that Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, will be replaced due to his role in negotiating the bill. The armed forces are also not too pleased with the assistance package. Last week, the military high command urged the civilian government to review the aid package and the conditions that Islamabad must meet to qualify for receiving financial assistance. The generals would like the government … Read entire article »
The Undefined Equilibrium between Pakistan and Islam. Part 4: The Unsustainable Equilibrium
By Adnan Syed THE TWO BASIC QUESTIONS: Throughout Pakistani history, the nation has struggled with two basic questions: 1) Pakistan was attained in the name of Islam. What does this mean? 2) Did Pakistan fulfill the objectives of Two Nation Theory within the United India? It seems that Pakistan resulted in a rather bifurcated Indian Muslim polity. Both questions are delicately intertwined. A right wing religious leader will pounce on both statements and proclaim that the resulting Muslim Pakistan justifies a total promulgation of Islam across all spheres of the Pakistani society. The personal and civil code named Shariah and the Quranic injunctions should be the sole basis of all laws of the land. Pakistan and Islam are the same, at an individual level, as well as the state level. … Read entire article »
The Undefined Equilibrium between Pakistan and Islam. Part 3: Objectives Resolution and subsequent yielding to the religious right
By Adnan Syed Right after the birth of Pakistan, we witness the religious right starting to move en-masse to the new state. Simultaneously, a street pressure started being applied on the rulers to bring the new state under the umbrella of an entity called an Islamic state. … Read entire article »
Pakistan descends deeper into civil war
I am not sure if we agree with this analysis in entirety but it makes a useful reading and presents a few insights worth pondering…Raza Rumi By Peter Symonds – WSWS website As the Pakistani military gets set to launch a major offensive into the tribal agency of South Waziristan, Islamist militants carried out coordinated high-profile attacks yesterday on police facilities in the city of Lahore. Teams of gunmen disguised as police officers struck two police training centres and the provincial headquarters of the Federal Investigation Agency. At least 28 people were killed, including 19 police officers. Two of the targets had already been attacked in the previous 18 months. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
The Undefined Equilibrium between Pakistan and Islam. Part 2: Our Founding Father's Vision
By Adnan Syed A widely circulated ideology of Pakistan that is heavily promoted by the right wing section of the Pakistani society maintains that Pakistan was attained in the name of Islam for the Muslims of the Sub-Continent. Pakistan was created so that the social order can be created based on Islamic principles and people can live their life in accordance with their religious values. A variation of Nazaria Pakistan uses a popular slogan used by the Muslims during the 1946 elections: “Pakistan means there is no God except Allah”. … Read entire article »
Don’t Try to Arrest the Sea
An Alternative Approach for Afghanistan By Mehar Omar Khan Over the last three months that I’ve spent in the United States, I’ve heard with concern and trepidation the growing calls for a possible pull out from Afghanistan. No sane citizen of our world, let alone a Pakistani infantry officer who may soon end up being another name on an ever-growing list of the fallen soldiers in the war against terror, enjoys thinking about the painful possibility of our world’s greatest military power and history’s most inspiring nation retreating in the face of an onslaught by Kalashnikov-wielding bearded barbarians riding on the back of motorcycles, hungry horses and perspiring mules. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Pakistan Attacks Show Tightening of Militant Links
By JANE PERLEZ ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A wave of attacks against top security installations over the last several days demonstrated that the Taliban, Al Qaeda and militant groups once nurtured by the government are tightening an alliance aimed at bringing down the Pakistani state, government officials and analysts said. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Lahore, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, violence, war
On Kerry-Lugar bill
Like everyone else, I too was taken aback by the fierce opposition to the Kerry Lugar bill. Not sure what the fuss is about, I decided to read about it. So, I read everything that was available on-line about the bill. During my research, I realized that the government of Pakistan has done nothing wrong. It is an aid bill, conceived and finalized by a foreign government to help Pakistan. And, there is nothing new in this bill that Pakistan has not seen or dealt with before. … Read entire article »
The Undefined Equilibrium between Pakistan and Islam. Part 1: The Uneasy Equilibrium
by Adnan Syed Note: This four part writeup on Islam and its vague relationship to Pakistan has its genesis in information exchange done in the comments section of the post “Pakistan’s Corrected Approach to deal with Taliban Thugs” during the month of September. I am thankful to YLH, Bonobashi, PMA, BC and many more for giving ideas about this writeup. From 1947 onwards, most would agree that Pakistan lurched from one crisis to another. A quick summary of Pakistanis history since its birth would probably read as follows. Partition massacres left a deep scar on Pakistani psyche. Its towering founder who singlehandedly resurrected the Muslim League in a period of 10 years, and combined the diverse and often split Muslim electorate under the Muslim League umbrella, died too soon. India refused to hold referendum in Kashmir on extremely dubious … Read entire article »
Poem: Where Do You Stand ?
Here I stand, Upon this pyre My house, as fire smolders out From our actions Of dishonesty and indifference remain they distant in anticipation Of disasters and break ups … Read entire article »
Hussain Haqqani is a Patriot!
Crossposted from New Pakistan Recent rumours that Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani is being replaced are harming Pakistan’s interests. At a time when Pakistan is literally under attack by enemies both foreign and domestic, responsible journalists and political figures from all parties should unite to support the best interests of the nation and defend those, like Mr. Haqqani, who have devoted their lives to supporting a strong, free, independent Pakistan. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Fighting the Taliban
What, exactly, is being fought in Afghanistan? By M. Reza Pirbhai With US and NATO commanders on the battlefield of Afghanistan calling for more troops, how best to defeat the Taliban is being hotly debated by Washington’s policy-makers and their media pundits. Yet, nowhere are the types of questions posed by Arundhati Roy (the acclaimed Indian novelist and social activist) on a recent visit to Pakistan to be heard in the mainstream US discourse. Clarifying the purpose of her trip during an address at the Karachi Press Club, she stated, “I’m here to understand what you mean when you say Taliban…Do you mean a militant? Do you mean an ideology? Exactly what is it that is being fought?” … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
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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