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Onwards To People's Republic Of Pakistan
By Yasser Latif Hamdani The Nation has reported in its newspaper today that that a scheme to change Pakistan’s name from Islamic Republic of Pakistan to People’s Republic of Pakistan was discussed in the parliamentary reforms committee and was ultimately withdrawn. ISLAMABAD – Awami National Party (ANP) during the deliberations of Parliamentary Reforms Committee had proposed to change the name of Islamic Republic of Pakistan as Peoples Republic of Pakistan, while Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supported the move, the sources close to these political parties disclosed to TheNation. The idea was, however, dropped due to strong opposition from the rest of the members of the committee, the sources added. MQM Deputy Convener and Federal Minister Dr. Farooq Sattar confirmed it to the media in an informal chat … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
An Interview with Ahmed Wali Karzai
By KATHY GANNON (AP) KANDAHAR: He calls himself a wheeler dealer – an old-style power broker who maneuvers through a murky, dangerous world of intelligence, tribal intrigue and, some critics allege, guns and drugs. Ahmed Wali Karzai is also a half brother of Afghanistan’s embattled president, whose international partners believe removing him from the country’s political mix is essential if the newly elected administration is to prove its commitment to good governance. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Democracy, Politics, Taliban
Moving on from Finger-Pointing
By Bilal Qureshi A brilliant work of investigative journalism by Jason Motlagh helps us understand that it is in the interest of everyone to try to solve issues by talking to each other instead of letting the nuts take advantage of our inability to commit to a constructive dialogue. Take for example the Mumbai tragedy. Right after the horrific terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008, people in Pakistan declared it to be an Indian conspiracy and … Read entire article »
Pakistan Taliban taps Punjab heartland for recruits
Pakistanis are increasingly concerned over the deadly collaboration between Punjabi militants from Sargodha and the Taliban. By Alex Rodriguez LA Times November 16, 2009 (Sargodha, Pakistan): One by one, recruits from Pakistan’s Punjab heartland would make the seven-hour drive to Waziristan, where they would pull up to an office that made no secret of its mission. The signboard above the office door read “Tehrik-e-Taliban.” In a largely ungoverned city like Miram Shah, there was no reason to hide its identity. … Read entire article »
Filed under: FATA, Islamism, Media, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Punjab, Taliban, Terrorism
Peshawar is Peshawar
“Kala May Perzo Shay Pa Bamono Pekhawara” Rahimullah Yusufzai The News Peshawar, or Pekhawar as it is called by Pakhtuns and Pishor by its old Hindko-speaking residents, has always been a city under attack. Past invaders coming from Central Asia, Persia, Afghanistan, India, and beyond have raided and plundered the place. Aryans, Greeks, Persians, Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs and the British occupied and lost Peshawar during their various campaigns of colonial conquest. And then there are the Pakhtun tribes living so close to the city in the Khyber and Mohmand tribal regions and the frontier regions of Darra Adamkhel and Hasankhel and threatening it whenever they are attacked. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, History, Identity, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Peshawar, Taliban, Terrorism
World journalists write to the Government of Pakistan
Raza Rumi Today, world editors have written to the government condemning the way a journalist, Matthew Rosenberg, has been maligned without evidence thereby making him vulnerable to being attacked extremists. True, the western media rarely reports without a slant. But unsubstantiated propaganda is plainly wrong and makes us all ashamed. We must practice what we preach. We hope that foreign correspondents are provided protection and better editorial discretion is introduced. As a writer I support freedom of expression but irresponsible allegations can be dangerous in these insecure times. TO: Qamar Zaman Kaira, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan 4th Floor, Cabinet Block, Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad (16 November 2009) RE: Nation article about Wall Street Journal reporter Respected Minister Kaira, We are writing to register our strong concern at a recent … Read entire article »
Diya – a Hero's Daughter
Text & Photos by Fauzia Minallah Diya with her father Pervez Masih’s photograph Diya is only three, she is lost and has many questions about her father Pervez Masih. Pervez was a janitor at the International Islamic University. On the fateful day when IIU was attacked by suicide bombers, he was the hero who stopped the terrorist from entering the cafeteria for female students. Pervez lost his life, while saving the lives of more than 300 students. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Children, Citizens, human rights, minorities, Pakistan, poverty, Taliban, Terrorism
Painting the truth
Reviewed by S.G. Jilanee Saadat Hasan Manto was very popular in his time as a progressive writer. But he wrote in Urdu. Now, Rakhshanda Jalil introduces him to English readers with a collection of 16 of his short stories and three sketches in Naked Voices. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Books, Literature, Partition, Reviews, translations
Energizing Peace
By Saleem H Ali and Parag Khanna Foreign Policy The lessons of geography appear to be ignored by policymakers in Washington D.C. these days. The Obama administration is pursuing tenuous negotiations with Iran regarding its supply of low-enriched uranium, in the hopes of taking the first step to erase the longstanding animosity between the two countries. It is also rethinking its Afghanistan and Pakistan policy to emphasize reconstruction and economic development. These two strategies are unfortunately disconnected — despite the fact that Afghanistan shares a 600-mile-long strategic border with Iran. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Economy, India, Iran, Pakistan, Taliban, USA
The ‘It-is-not-us’ syndrome
By Hajrah Mumtaz Dawn Online A couple of months ago, I wrote a column in praise of certain Pakistani pop stars and bands, arguing that there are a fair number of songs that display political consciousness and a related sense of responsibility. I referred to such songs as Junoon’s ‘Talaash’, Shahzad Roy’s ‘Lagay Raho’ and ‘Kismet Apnay Haath Main’, Noori’s ‘Merey Log’ and Laal’s rendition of Habib Jalib’s ‘Main Nay Uss Say Yeh Kaha.’ … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Identity, Music, Pakistan, Religion, Taliban, USA
Silencing a Citizen
By Ardeshir Cowasjee, Dawn 15 Nov, 2009 Death of a social activist THE desecration of Gutter Baghicha, a designated parkland for the people of Karachi, has been written about umpteen times over the past couple of years, but no effective action was taken by those concerned. On Nov 7, 2009, Nisar Baloch, the spearhead of the Gutter Baghicha Bachao Tehreek and a member of Shehri, two NGOs which have been trying for the last two decades to save this lung of the city,was shot through the head by unidentified assailants as he was leaving his house. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, Conservation, Karachi, Pakistan, poverty
The Short And Sordid History Of Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam
- Subcontinent’s First Islamic Extremist Political Party By Yasser Latif Hamdani The role of Majlis-e-Ahrar (truly the real grandfather organization of all Islamic Extremist Parties in the subcontinent and also of all anti-Shia and anti-Ahmadi agitation in Pakistan subsequently) is the most significant when it comes to Militant Islam in the subcontinent. This was a pre-partition body of Nationalist Muslims who had sided with the Congress throughout the independence movement and had been part of satyagraha (this is significant) at the time they believed in secular nationalism and secular India and in 1931 formed itself as a Indian Nationalist Muslim body, separate from the Congress, but always in support of it and in staunch opposition to the Muslim League. … Read entire article »
Ordinary Muslims' Views on Taliban
Taliban under fire from Pakistan’s faithful (From Dawn Online) RAIWIND: Inayatullah Khan sits on a dusty rug and prepares to pray at Pakistan’s biggest religious gathering of 400,000 Muslims, cursing the Taliban for their ‘unholy crusade’ against humanity. Khan travelled all the way from the tribal region of South Waziristan to take part in the four-day event, one of the world’s largest Islamic meetings, in Raiwind on the outskirts of Pakistan’s cultural capital Lahore. … Read entire article »
To Understand Pakistan, 1947 Is The Wrong Lens
This is an op-ed from Outlook, India (Nov 09, 2009). The quality of the argument or analysis made below might leave much to be desired. We may not necessarily share the author’s views. But the general view is an interesting one, not least because it is debatable. It is with a view to inviting a discussion that it is published here. – PTH The hurt that moves Pakistan is from a wound more recent—1971 By Khurram Hussain On a recent trip to India, I was moved by the genuine concern people have about Pakistan. As a Pakistani living in the United States, I am subjected daily to serious exasperation, courtesy the American media. Americans do not understand Pakistan because they do not care. And there is no real knowledge without caring. Indians certainly do care. Pakistan … Read entire article »
Pakistan's Fashion Week: Some Like It Haute
From Dawn Magazine 15th November, 2009 The Fashion Pakistan Week (FPW) that was held last week wasn’t without its share of controversies. It started out being dubbed as the second Karachi Fashion Week (KFW) — the first one was held in August 2008 — got delayed due to the socio-political conditions in the country, and then changed at the last minute from KFW to FPW. There were those who thought that it would never happen. But … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
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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