2010 April | Pak Tea House

Balochistan: Pakistan's broken mirror

April 2nd, 2010 | 10 Comments

Posted by Raza Rumi Baloch children hold up nationalist posters. Photographs by Asim Hafeez for The National Islamabad’s brutal attempts to crush ethnic Baloch nationalism have met with fierce, escalating resistance – and have laid bare the strains that threaten the founding idea of Pakistan. Madiha R Tahir reports from the rallies, homes and hospital rooms of the fifth Baloch rebellion. A child is fiddling with a poster of a mustachioed man, a missing political worker who may be his father or his uncle, and who is in all likelihood, dead. He draws my immediate attention, this child, because out of the thousands seated around him in row upon neat row inside the open-air tent, he is the only one not focused on the stage, the blazing lights, the young man holding forth … Read entire article »

Filed under: baluchistan, Pakistan

Pakistan's Silent Surge

April 2nd, 2010 | 7 Comments

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mr. Shah Mahmood Qureshi talked with The Newsweek about operation against the Taliban, drone strikes and their effectiveness, as well as the new round of strategic dialogue with the United States. The interview is a pleasant read, and Mr. Qureshi comes across as diplomatic yet candidly clear in his message. His assertion that Pakistan only started winning the war when Pakistani took ownership of the war is quite possibly the single most important determinant why the tables finally turned in this conflict. He uses the term the Silent Surge to describe Pakistan’s Army drive to root out the militants from FATA area. We can all agree that Pakistan’s silent surge is working; though it took thousands of civilian and military lives before Pakistan finally started getting an upper hand … Read entire article »

Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Democracy, FATA, India, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Taliban, USA

Pakistan's economy: Hard times

April 1st, 2010 | 14 Comments

by Raza Rumi Two years after the civilian government took office, there are few signs of economic recovery and this does not augur well for the fate of democratic governance in Pakistan. We are somehow doomed to bear the brunt of authoritarian regimes in social and economic terms. By the time a civilian government puts its house in order, the long and short marchers are ready to take over. The story this time has been no exception. Following the trends of the 1960s and the 1980s during the Musharrafian decade, unsustainable growth rates were touted as the raison d’etre for the apparent efficiency of a military regime. It is true that the Musharraf era inducted Pakistan into the globalized economic system, boosted domestic demand for consumer products and attracted huge doses … Read entire article »

Filed under: Pakistan

The House Of Fear – Book Review

April 1st, 2010 | 7 Comments

By Yasser Latif Hamdani The House Of Fear Ibn-E- Safi Translated by Bilal Tanweer Random House 228 pages Rs195 (Indian) Random House India have brought to life and into the English language the fast paced adventures of Pakistan’s Sherlock Holmes and James Bond rolled into one: Ali Imran MSc, PhD (Oxon) aka X2- the super sleuth whose act as a fool is a cover for his sharp intellect which is utilized by the intelligence agency to its fullest. Created by Asrar Narvi … Read entire article »

Filed under: Literature, Pakistan

A Giant Leap Forward for Pakistan!!

April 1st, 2010 | 9 Comments

Posted by Raza Rumi What an incredible achievement by Pakistan’s politicians, comparable to the historic national consensus reached in 1973 under the leadership of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto when Pakistan’s Islamic, Federal and democratic constitution was voted in. Now 37-years after that, Pakistan’s politicians have done the entire nation proud once again, this time under the leadership of President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani, by adopting 18th Amendment to the same Constitution by the same or higher degree of consensus (when all political parties, small or big, provincial or national, bar none) have come together. These leaders have decided to do away the massive damage done to the constitution (and the national fabric) by military dictators over the years – by Zia and Musharraf. In one sweeping motion, with more … Read entire article »

Filed under: Pakistan