Pak Tea House » Archive
Force, Fear keep Iran Together
Pick up the annals of history, and we find frequent examples of the abject failure of using religion to manage a state. One of a better example today is the neighbouring state of Iran. A 1979 “revolution” ensured that a quasi monarchist dictatorship was replaced by a theocratic based dictatorship. As Iran uncomfortably grinds towards further chaos, Pakistan, as its very next door neighbour needs to take note. The Iranian situation has various chilling messages for Pakistan: 1) The religious theocracy in Iran enjoyed much better support in Iran because of the dictatorship of the Shah. Pakistan has tended not to elect religious right in the corridors of power even though the society has been remarkably conservative in its religious outlook. But the failure of democratic rule to effectively govern the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Iran, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan, Religion
Religious Liberalism – Our Greatest Hope?
A.A Khalid has sent us his exclusive post for PTH. It is quite gratifying to note that PTH is becoming a hub for many of us who want things to improve without using the violent means and indiscriminate jihadist agenda. Raza Rumi Is religious liberalism an oxymoron, or is it something long established? More to the point is there something known as Islamic Liberalism, or Liberal Islam? Surprisingly, there is indeed something, a discourse known as Liberal Islam. And contrary to popular perception it is not a contradiction in terms. Charles Kurzman a Professor in Sociology who deals with Islamic movements asserts there is a tradition with specifically Islamic context known as Liberal Islam (pdf file) . What’s more Liberal Islam is not monolithic it has multiple schools and traditions each … Read entire article »
Filed under: Islam, Religion, secular Pakistan, secularism, Society
Pakistan’s budget: Policy sans public
Raza Rumi Last week, a former Minister while referring to the budgeting process remarked how the budget documents were accessible to only 3% of the parliamentarians. A lady MNA whom I met after the budget speech was ploughing through the shabbily printed pink documents, looking for the allocations for regulatory bodies and both of us could not find the relevant figures. This should be enough to describe the inaccessibility and obfuscated nature of the budgeting process in Pakistan and several other developing countries. Executive board-room syndrome: Lack of public consultation in the budgetary processes is another hallmark of how the executive formulates the national priorities and finances them. Our state considers the people as ‘beneficiaries’ and ‘recipients’ of the wise decisions made in air-conditioned secretariats and donor board-rooms. This is why the … Read entire article »
From the Frying Pan into the Fire
They say in Africa that when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. To this Julius Nyerere had once added that when elephants make love, the grass still suffers. Nyerere had made this witty remark at a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in the 1970′s. The organisation had been formed to extricate as much of the world from suffering the same fate as the grass in this African proverb, during the Cold War. Yet, it failed Afghanistan … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Books, Citizens, History, Images, Photos, war
Our Wonderful Hosts
by Amaar Ahmad In the aftermath of the carnage in Lahore against Ahmadis, life returned to normal. Our prime minister gazed at the wonders on display at another art gallery, our law minister spoke to TV channels highlighting the great efforts of Punjab police in striking down the terror cells, our mullahs ranted fatwas against infidels and the hosts of our television shows switched to their favorite topic of the failings of the PPP government. The scale of the tragedy in Lahore on May 28 must have been enormous. After all, how can you explain why our television anchors felt obliged to parade Allama after Allama for delivering words of condemnation that night. No sooner did the Ulema utter words of commiseration than sermons on the context and pretext of why and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Media
The Shadow over Israel
Margaret Atwood, one of the most prominent poets, essayist, author and critic of modern times penned this touching piece for the left wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Margaret postulates the most glaring injustices of modern times; Palestinians have been ejected and displaced from their own homes. They have been made homeless in their own ancestral lands. Israel, in its paranoia to keep itself established, has increasingly dehumanized and mistreated the already hapless Palestinians. In order to ensure its survival at any cost, Israel is dehumanizing the people who have lived on the land for centuries that constitute modern day Israel. For Israel to exist, an independent Palestine must exist. Otherwise Israeli paranoia will likely consume itself. There are signs that world opinion is shifting against the state of Israel. Even many thoughtful Jews … Read entire article »
Filed under: Palestine-israel, USA
How Reluctance to Debate Religion Has Resulted in a Total Quagmire
Raza Habib Raja has authored this exclusive post for PTH. We welcome his original thoughts and courage to express them. Raza Rumi I have often been much more amazed not at the religious fanaticism of the few, but at passivity of the moderate majority. And although skeptics will cast their doubt but the fact is that Pakistan on the whole has a moderate population, particularly when compared to countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia etc, where large sections of population are thoroughly radicalized. In Pakistan comparable fervour is dominant only in pockets. Yes this is a country which has Taliban but it is also a country where people have largely voted for PPP and PML (N) (which is a moderate conservative political party). This is a country which despite being conservative has … Read entire article »
From A Rooftop Restaurant In Lahore
A View ‘Across Another Century’ The GT Road Blog By Steve Inskeep NPR correspondents are on the Grand Trunk Road. The team has undertaken this project to hear from “young people along one of the world’s historic highways.” Today, we get to go along with the team to a restaurant in Lahore that offers much more than just food. From Coo Coo’s Cafe, you can look back across time. (John Poole/NPR) There’s no need to get into what we talked about. … Read entire article »
From BBC Urdu: The Idiots In Our Religious Parties
Please note that the conference took place at Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam headquarters in Muslim Town Lahore.-YLH لاہور میں احمدیوں کی دو عبادت گاہوں پر شدت پسندوں کے حملے میں نوے سے زائد افراد ہلاک ہو گئے تھے لاہور کے علاقے مسلم ٹاؤن میں مجلس احرار اسلام کے دفتر میں ہونے والے اس اجلاس کے بعد مذہبی جماعتوں کے رہنماؤں نے ایک مشترکہ پریس کانفرنس سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ پاکستان میں احمدیوں کے خلاف موجود قوانین پر ایک … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Two Nation Theory
VIEW: Two Nation Theory —Yasser Latif Hamdani For Jinnah and the Muslim League, the Two Nation Theory was not an ideological position etched in stone. It was the restatement of the arguments needed to ensure national status for Muslims in a multinational independent India One of our most persistent national myths — put forward by both the state and its detractors — is that Pakistan was created in the name of Islam. It is said that Pakistan … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
CJP shows spine – chips at General Zia's Criminal Conduct
Well done CJP! Looks like we are finally on the move! – YLH Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry says deletion of clause on rights of minorities was ‘criminal negligence’ * Appreciates incumbent parliament for taking notice of removal of clause by Gen Zia’s govt in 1985 By Masood Rehman ISLAMABAD: Heading a 17-member larger bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry termed as criminal negligence the deletion of a word about the rights of minorities from the Objectives Resolution during the regime of General Ziaul Haq in 1985. Ziaul Haq had omitted the word “freely” from the Objectives Resolution, which was made substantive part of the 1973 Constitution under the Revival of Constitutional Order No. 14. The clause of Objectives Resolution before deletion of the word ‘freely’ read, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Guardian: Ahmadi massacre silence is dispiriting
By Declan Walsh Reproduced from www.guardian.co.uk http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/jun/07/ahmadi-massacre-silence-pakistan I often find myself defending Pakistan against the unbidden prejudices of the outside world. No, Islam is not the cause of terrorism. Yes, the Taliban is a complex phenomenon. No, Imran Khan is not a major political figure. This past week, though, I am silent. The massacre of 94 members of the minority Ahmadi community on May 28 has exposed something ugly at the heart of Pakistan – its laws, its rulers, its society. It’s not the violence that disturbs most, gut-churning as it was. During Friday prayers two teams of attackers stormed Ahmadi mosques in the eastern city of Lahore. They fired Kalashnikovs from minarets, chucked grenades into the crowds, exploded their suicide vests. As the massacre unfolded, a friend called – his father-in-law, a devout Ahmadi, was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, human rights, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, minorities, Punjab, Religion, Taliban, Terrorism, violence
The GT Road Blog
NPR correspondents are taking the historic Grand Trunk Road from the Bay of Bengal in the east to the Hindu Kush mountains in the west, across the Indian subcontinent. They talk about life along the route. This is the first post from when they arrived in Pakistan, last month. We hope to reproduce, over the next few days, here on PTH, their thoughts and impressions on the journey through Pakistan. In Pakistan, The Grand Trunk Road Is ‘An … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Heritage, Identity, India, Pakistan, Travel
NPR: CIA Fight Against Communism Bolsters Radical Islam
by NPR Staff http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127500908&ft=1&f=1004#127500197 The CIA’s determination to roll back communism during the Cold War inadvertently allowed radical Islamists to gain a foothold in Europe, according to a new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ian Johnson. A Mosque in Munich: Nazis, the CIA and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West details the Nazis’ attempts to create a fifth column within the Soviet empire by becoming allies with Muslim minorities living in the Soviet Union. “The Soviet Union had oppressed Islam, closed many mosques and mistreated many minorities in the Soviet Union, including Muslims,” Johnson tells host Guy Raz. “After the Germans ended up with literally millions of Red Army POWs in the war, they began to realize that many of these were potential soldiers to fight the Soviet Union.” … Read entire article »
Filed under: Great game, History, Islam, Religion, Terrorism, USA
Bleak prospects
Raza Rumi It is evident that the Pakistani state faces a crisis of legitimacy and survival. Twelve years ago, on May 28, the Pakistani state displayed its nuclear prowess to the world especially to the ‘infidels’. After a decade, statehood and its compromised effectiveness stand exposed. True that the victims of the Lahore attacks were an underclass or at best residents with partial citizenship, i.e. the Ahmadis. But the inability of state agencies to fight splintered terror networks is worrisome. The federal government had warned the provincial authorities of the impending attacks. The usual slovenliness and chaotic governance of the Pakistani variety treated it as just another communiqué. The police arrived late; and terrorists had implemented the plans rather adroitly making a mockery of Pakistan across the globe. Imagine a terrorist was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Islamism, minorities, Politics, public policy, Punjab, Terrorism
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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