Pak Tea House » Archive
Would-be suicide bomber flees militants
This item of news is from The News of 06 Jan 2010 – PTH BATKHELA: A would-be suicide bomber managed to escape from the captivity of militants and reached home in Khattakay area of Malakand Agency on Tuesday. “I don’t want to kill innocent people in bomb blast,’’ said the 14-year-old Shah Hussain, son of Alam Khan, while talking to reporters at the Malakand Levies post. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Children, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism
End of the military-jihadi nexus
By Dr Manzur Ejaz Daily Times 06 Jan 2010 The military has no choice but to eliminate all types of non-state armed groups in Pakistan to save the state and its own privileges. The military may want to pick and choose among these groups, but circumstances will force it to take them out one by one. Asia Peace, a discussion forum, opened the New Year with making predictions about the possible scenarios in Pakistan. Ultimately, the debate centred on the prospects for the military-jihadi nexus. An overwhelming majority believes that the military will keep its jihadi option intact by differentiating between good and bad Taliban and other extremist groups. A very tiny minority, including myself, optimistically believes that the military has no choice but to take out all kinds of jihadis. The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Democracy, Islamism, Pakistan, state, Terrorism, Zardari
Moving Forward from the Dictators' Mess
Bangladesh SC Says No to Religion-based Political Parties The Daily Star 06 Jan 2010 Religion-based political parties of the country will be banned, said the law minister on Monday. But the words ‘Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim’ and state religion Islam will remain in force in the constitution, said the minister. Law Minister Shafique Ahmed’s affirmation came at a media briefing at his secretariat office, a day after the Supreme Court vacated an earlier stay on the High Court verdict that declared illegal the fifth amendment of the constitution. He said since the Supreme Court has upheld the High Court verdict regarding the fifth amendment to the constitution, religion-based political parties will be banned. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islamism, Justice, Politics, Religion, south asia, state
Ruchika Girhotra, Safia Bibi and Mukhtar Mai: any different?
By Ishtiaq Ahmed Daily Times 05 Jan 2010 What goes on all the time in rural India with regard to working women, especially from lower castes, hardly ever figures in media discussions. Such women are constantly harassed and molested by men of the superior castes Some years ago, I met Indian human rights activists in Delhi. A lively discussion followed without the usual rancour that India-Pakistan interactions are notorious for, because we were interested in the rights and dignity of human beings as human beings and not as Christians, Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs and so on. The exchange of views and notes ended with us being unable to decide whether the Indian or the Pakistani dominant classes were more ruthless and heartless. That both were identical in their inhumanity was probably the … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Democracy, Education, human rights, India, Islam, Justice, Law
Drone attacks: challenging some fabrications
By Farhat Taj Daily Times 02 Jan 2010 The people of Waziristan are suffering a brutal kind of occupation under the Taliban and al Qaeda. Therefore, they welcome the drone attacks There is a deep abyss between the perceptions of the people of Waziristan, the most drone-hit area and the wider Pakistani society on the other side of the River Indus. For the latter, the US drone attacks on Waziristan are a violation of Pakistani’s sovereignty. Politicians, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Army, FATA, Media, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Taliban, USA
"Why does Pakistan hate the United States", by Christopher Hutchins
Christopher Hitchens comes out swinging in this article at www.slate.com. We recognize that Hitchens’ views are, and historically have been quite unfriendly towards Pakistan. Yet it is important to objectively read the views of a leading thinker in the Western world, who has the ears of influential people in White House. Hitchens wonders aloud the question that has befuddled many across the globe; why does Pakistan hate US so much. The usual argument goes something like this: US has an uneven international policy, it has supported dictators, it has been an opportunist when it comes to its own interests, it supports Israel, and that US has massacred hundreds of thousands of humans over the past century in pursuit of its aim to remain the dominant military power in the world. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Democracy, India, Islamabad, Pakistan, Religion, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, World
Interview: Pakistan, “The Gender Discourse Needs to Be Linked to Local Realities”
Heinrick Boll Stiftung, The Green Political Foundation Due to the offensive by the military only a few weeks ago, Pakistan came into the focus of the international public again. The power of the Taliban in connection with the attitude of the society was widely discussed, but once again gender and women issues were not highlighted. Durre Ahmed, chairperson and senior research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Gender and Culture in Lahore, about the current situation and development of the gender discourse in Pakistan. In the current debate especially one phenomenon referred to as ‘radicalization’ or ‘Talibanization’ of society was often mentioned. What is the effect of this seemingly growing radicalisation of society on gender issues? What effect does it have on people’s psyche? Durre Ahmed: As expected the effect is extremely … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Citizens, human rights, Islam, Islamism, Pakistan, Terrorism, violence, Women
Rediscovering Jinnah
We have discussed partition of India far too many times on PTH but old habits die hard (Partition was the most frequently discussed topic in the real PakTeaHouse as well). This is another article on Jinnah published by Dawn, we are reproducing here for discussion. While Faruqui is on the money about Jinnah’s secularism, his over all analysis is as usual quite weak – which is nothing new for those of us who have followed his articles in Daily Times and Dawn. For example, Life Magazine’s coverage has been discussed on several occasions on this website. Similarly the words he uses – ethnicity, religion etc - are terms Faruqui is incapable of fully understanding. 1971 cannot be termed as a war between ethnicity and religion, as much as the failure of constitutional accomodation. Nationalism is the … Read entire article »
Filed under: India, Jinnah, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Partition
Trading Religion: Profits are mine, the Losses You Cover
By Ahmad Nadeem Gehla Starting a new business is all about possibilities, optimism, hard work and risk of losses. However owning a business in any famous markets of Pakistan is considered as a guarantee for success because of high volume of ready customers. High returns on investment push high the property prices and rentals, only real wealthy can afford to do business in these markets. The powerful ‘traders unions’ of these wealthy business owners safeguard them from tax authorities and make them immune to laws and business regulations. A comprehensive package of insurance essential for businesses in any civilized society also remains absent as business owner are not willing to spare a small percentage of their profits for insurance costs. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Economy, Justice, Multinational Corporations, Pakistan, Society, state
The Urge To Go Back 1400 years
By YLH Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has promised to bury the current system and bring in its place the system of the Holy Prophet PBUH. This is a highly misleading statement but one which needs to be discussed in detail so that we may stop this mockery of our religion. References to revered religious figures and their principles is a common technique. Jesus Christ is invoked as the prophet of love and religion by all of the west. Thomas Jefferson is said to have written a book on the principles and teachings of Jesus Christ. In India Mohandas Gandhi invoked the name of Rama for Ram Rajya which was supposed to mean “just rule”. Similarly during the Pakistan movement Jinnah invoked on occasion Islamic principles of equality, fraternity and justice to convince his followers … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
One and a half billion people just want peace
The News, January 01, 2010 The two nations have repeatedly gone to war in the past. Their governments continue sabre rattling and spewing bellicose rhetoric. But identical nationwide opinion surveys conducted by the Jang Group and the Times of India Group in India and Pakistan show that a majority of the billion and a half people of the sub-continent want to live as peaceful and friendly neighbours and share the same humane goals like any other civilised polity; economic prosperity for all, education for the youth, health for the needy, absence of violence and elimination of existential threats. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, India, Kashmir, Pakistan, poverty, south asia, Terrorism
Demystifying mysteries
By Ayesha Siddiqa Dawn, 01 Jan, 2010 The Pakistani media is playing its role by informing citizens about the threat posed by the American security contractor Blackwater. Every other day there is some news of suspicious cars being stopped by the Punjab police and the passengers being interrogated and then released under pressure from unknown and unnamed people in the government. Intriguingly, we never get to hear the end. There are several questions that could be asked about what the occupants of these vehicles were doing in Pakistan. More important, why does the Punjab government and its police let such people go? … Read entire article »
Three Poems By Iqbal IV: Dialogue Between God And Man
By Dr. Ali Hashmi Muhawaraa Maa Bain Khuda-o-Insan (Dialogue between God and Man): The third poem in this selection, ‘Muhawaraa maa bain Khuda-o-Insaan’ features one of Iqbal’s favorite styles, a dialogue or interplay between earthly and celestial figures. It also employs one of Iqbal’s favored poetical styles, the Socratic Method (or Socratic Debate), named after the Classical Greek philosopher Socrates, a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate rational thinking and to illuminate ideas. It is a dialectical method, often involving an oppositional discussion in which the defense of one point of view is pitted against the defense of another. One of the most famous examples of this genre is Iqbal’s lengthy poem ‘Shikwah’ or ‘Reproach’ in which Man(representing the Muslim … Read entire article »
Filed under: Partition, Philosophy, poetry
Pakistan; Looking forward and beyond 2010
By Adnan Syed As the year 2010 approaches, Pakistan finds itself yet once again in the grip of an indecisive slumber. The nation is paralyzed by security concerns, its immediate neighbours from East to West accuse the country of harbouring terrorists, the economy barely nudges above the levels that signify growth, and lags far below the levels where poverty starts meaningfully decreasing. It is far easier to pinpoint the shortcomings of an individual person, place the appropriate blame where it is due, and once the mistakes are identified, corrective measures can be taken. Yet, for a nation of 160MM individuals, where everyone blames everyone else for the nation’s woes, the nation gets paralyzed in the midst of finger pointing matches, the collective mistakes are seldom acknowledged, and even when the mistakes are … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islamabad, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Zardari
PTH biweekly Cartoon
Picture of the Week
-
Sunrise at the Arabian Sea, Charna Island
24 Dec 2011
(4 Comments)
PTH on facebook
Recent Comments