Pak Tea House » Archive
Death of Collective Wisdom
Another exclusive post from Ahmad Nadeem for PTH – comments are welcome (Raza Rumi) “Is there a competition going on in Pakistan between institution to earn shame and notoriety for their nation?” my colleague asked me casually while we were having some drinks and watching a news television. “We are on that path for last 40years”, I answered stubbornly. Can there anything such shameful to force you behave that stubborn over your national pride? There is, hold your breath, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, the top body of media and custodian of ‘freedom of speech and civil liberties’, in a press release issued by its Secretary General, Mr Shamsul Islam Naz, has “officially’ appreciated the blocking of the Facebook Website. This was followed by the Lahore High Court orders of a blanket … Read entire article »
Whatever happened to Kerry-Lugar?
Raza Rumi Pakistan’s dire fiscal situation has resulted in the reduction of development spending by 40 per cent. This does not bode well for the citizens who have been tormented by an energy crisis, persistent food inflation and rampant unemployment. In these circumstances, the development assistance under the Kerry-Lugar Bill (KLB) is much needed. Pakistan’s civilian government braved a media onslaught and the ire of the security establishment for tacitly supporting the US legislation. Other than the rhetoric around the ‘conditions’ drafted in Washington, there was an unstated agreement that the development assistance was welcome. Months have elapsed and Pakistanis have yet to witness the roll out of the KLB. Global recession and political uncertainty at home underlie the tough days … Read entire article »
FacebookGate
Faraz Rana, a lawyer based in New York, has authored this exclusive piece for PTH. We welcome his contribution and hope that he will contribute regularly. (Raza Rumi) Depictions of the Prophet (pbuh) are banned in Islam so people (presumably, Muslims) don’t idolize the images. The lawyer in me will tell you that a non-Muslim drawing a similar image, especially in jest, will not violate that rationale. Nor will Muslims ever confuse a cartoon with a serious depiction. Of course, using technical legal arguments to quell incensed religious rhetoric is about as effective as eradicating objectionable content on cyberspace by blocking it. Oh, wait. The debate on FacebookGate and the underlying arguments on the limits of free speech will never be resolved by rational minds. So, in case you missed it, here … Read entire article »
Chinese whispers of the press
A couple of weeks ago a screening of “Taqwacore- The Birth of Punk Islam” was held at the National College of Arts Lahore. The documentary film offers an insight into the Muslim punk movement called Taqwacore, inspired by a novel by American Muslim Michael Muhammad Knight of the same name. The film primarily follows Muslim punk band The Kominas, along with Michael Muhammad Knight, on a road trip through the US and, in the latter … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Islam, journalism, Media, Music, Pakistan, Religion
Who’s afraid of Dara Shikoh’s ghost?
Raza Rumi Madeeha Gauhar Prince Dara at the feet of his Sufi saint Emperor Aurangzeb Dara Shikoh Dara reading the Upanishads with Hindu priests Maulana Maududi To present a play on a prince who argued – with reason and reference – that there was little difference between the Upanishads and the tenets of mystical Islam is no ordinary feat. After all, this is a country where powerful forces within … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Article 2-A : A Draconian Clause In The Hands Of "Azad Adlia"
By YL Hamdani esq. The famous American constitutional case Marbury V. Madison was arguably the first time the judiciary in the history of the world declared anything “unconstitutional”. The door was thrown open that day which subverted the time honored principle of parliamentary sovereignty (established through English parliament’s positive assertion of sovereignty in 1688). Today we in Pakistan are face to face to most unsavory aspects of the judicial tyranny that may emerge through an abuse of this principle. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Let us ban thinking…
Thanks to Yasir, I found this rather simple but powerful poem illustrating the sad reality on the way we have reacted to the Facebook saga. Raza Rumi As muslims lets be outraged and have shut down or at least boycott the site that was sacrilegious then close or at least boycott facebook then close or at least boycott the email then close or at least boycott twitter then close and or at least boycott the internet then close or at least boycott email then close or at least boycott sms then close or at least boycott mobiles then close or at least boycott books then close or at least boycott paper then close or at least boycott the pen then close or at least boycott speech then close or at least boycott gesture then close or at least boycott thinking now my brother we have … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
NFP's brilliant new blog About Pakistan's Fashion And Music Industry – Must read
I have never been able to understand the cultural dynamics of what is called the Pakistan fashion industry, particularly the notion of holding ‘fashion weeks’ which, at least to me, seem to last for months. There is nothing new in saying that the so-called Pakistan fashion scene constitutes the minutest percentage of the population when we start counting the number of designers, models, ‘fashion journalists,’ and audience members for fashion shows in this country. Their … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Jamaat-e-Islami’s rag “Daily Ummat” Asks Me To Leave Pakistan !
By Yasser Latif Hamdani In his recent column (“Mera beta teri fauj ka sipahi hoga”) in the rag, Daily Ummat, Kashif Hafeez Siddiqui has asked all Pakistanis like the “Qadiani supporter” Yasser Latif Hamdani who speak of a secular Pakistan to move to India. Could things be more ironic? I find it strange sometimes that Jamaat-e-Islami claims positions thinking that everyone reading their lies is going to buy their crooked distortions as facts. In a campaign not long ago against Aga Khanis, they claimed that Aga Khanis were Zionists and opposed to the ideology of Pakistan. Ofcourse such inconvenient facts as the first president of the Muslim League being Aga Khan are of no consequence. In his aforementioned article Mr. Siddiqui declares – with what one can imagine is a very straight face- … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Meet Baroness Warsi of the House of Lords, British-Pakistani, Cabinet Member And Chairwoman Of The Conservative Party Of Britain
Those who followed my facebook updates about the British elections would remember that I was pro-Conservative Party. There were many reasons for it but reason number 1 was Ms. Sayeeda Warsi, whose political career I have closely followed for two years. Sayeeda Warsi is the kind of leadership British Pakistanis ought to have and only the British Conservative Party could have had the right sense to have chosen her. The Labour Party on the other … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Jamaat-e-Islami: The Fountainhead Of Religious Extremism
By Yasser Latif Hamdani – Daily Times Pakistan will have to undo the Maududian infiltration of its state and society. It means liberating our campuses of organisations like the IJT. It means purging the state and its machinery of elements that are furthering the Jamaat’s hate-filled agendaMy article last week on Faisal Shahzad’s radicalisation elicited unprecedented response on the issue of Islamic organisations operating in the US, thereby necessitating this sequel. There are things that need to be said before it is all too late. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Facebook saga: Dilemma of Urban Middle Class
We are posting this piece in the ongoing debate on Facebook ban. PTH does not necessarily agree with the views expressed here. Raza Rumi On Wednesday 19th May 2010, the Lahore High Court, famous for acting as a “moral brigade” rather than judiciary, once again passed a strange order to ban Facebook across Pakistan on a petition of Muslim Lawyers Forum. The demand for blocking of the social media site came after it refused to remove certain pages displaying Prophet Muhammad’s cartoons. This order was passed against the request of the government and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority that controversial pages of Facebook were already being blocked and there was no reason to block entire social media website which has over 2 million Pakistani users. Few months back Lahore High Court took suo-moto notice of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Islam, Islamism, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, liberal Pakistan, Pakistan, Politics, Religion, Rights, violence
Absolute madness: banning blackberry services in Pakistan
I am posting this message by Ali Shah who has rightly pointed out the absolute madness of blocking the blackberry services in the Land of the Pure. The zealots want us to go back to the stone age. These decisions should be reversed at once. There are other ways of dealing with this issue and not by an absolute ban of connectivity in the twenty first century. In any case, it is not easy to ‘ban’ stuff in this day and age. Many internet users have found other ways of bypassing this embargo (Raza Rumi) A great man once said, ” Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter ” – And yes, this matters. We as citizens of this world possess the right to … 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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