Courtesy Daily Times. Ahmad Shah Abdali, the hero of our Pakistani textbooks and a first-class marauder, would have wondered what all the fuss was about when his contemporaries Edmund Burke and Fox took Robert Clive to task in the English parliament for his corruption All England Law Reports — the most reliable record of English case law — date back to 1558. Recorded case law dates back another 400 years prior to that. In 1558, the English … Read entire article »

Raza Rumi Much has been said about media accountability and the dire need of a regulation framework for Pakistan’s new power centre. Pakistani media has earned its freedom and independence after a long, often bloody, struggle against military dictators and civilian autocrats. Countless journalists were imprisoned, harassed, even killed in this decade’s long fight for free speech, otherwise a much-touted fundamental right in every Pakistani constitution. There is no question that a viable democracy and a culture of accountability cannot exist without a robust and independent media. Globalisation and the rise of electronic media in Pakistan, ironically under General Musharraf, is a relatively new phenomenon and has changed the contours of power matrix in the country. If anything, electronic media and its older cousin, the print media, with a plethora of columnists, … Read entire article »

This is an insightful and intelligently argued article sent to us by Miss Mahnoor Khan. She makes a very pertinent point that the present Muslim mindset and for that matter to some extent even extremism, are outcomes of the way Islamic history is being taught. In our part of the world history instead of acting as a rational guide for future behavior ends up instilling false illusions about glory. Moreover biased history stalls the ability to self introspect in a critical manner and in fact becomes the basis for state of denial according to which everything is just a grand conspiracy of the foreign forces. By Mahnoor Khan  Do you really know Islamic history? From school to universities, Pakistanis are taught Islamic history through multiple subjects, it is part of syllabi of … Read entire article »

Faisal Naseem has sent us this letter to the editor already published in a daily newspaper. It is worth citing here for it brings forth an alternative perspective on the current hysteria over the Punjab Assembly resolution. Raza Rumi This is with reference to the resolution by the Punjab Assembly condemning the media for its alleged irresponsibility. Here is the answer to all those who think this tantamounts to damaging democracy. One might recall Justice M. R. Kiyani’s speech on the issue of ‘Freedom of Press’ that he delivered while speaking to journalists of the International Press Association, Zurich. (Ref. ‘Not The Whole Truth’ Pg. No. 193) in which he had observed, “If the press has a right to be free, the individual whom it represents has also a right to … Read entire article »

A Muslim mob in Jhelum, Pakistan murdered the wife and four children of a Christian last month, but local authorities are too afraid of the local Muslim leader to file charges, according to area Muslim and Christian sources. Thu, Jul. 08, 2010 Posted: 02:04 PM EDT ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Compass Direct News) – A Muslim mob in Jhelum, Pakistan murdered the wife and four children of a Christian last month, but local authorities are too afraid of the local Muslim leader to file charges, according to area Muslim and Christian sources. Jamshed Masih, a police officer who was transferred 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Gujrat to Jhelum, Punjab Province, said a mob led by Muslim religious leader Maulana Mahfooz Khan killed his family on June 21 after Khan called him to the local … Read entire article »

Courtesy: Daily Times VIEW: Legal minds of Pakistan —Yasser Latif Hamdani The gap between Pakistan and India in terms of intellectual, economic and social development is roughly equal to the gap between Ram Mohan Roy and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in terms of time Any legal scholar picking up jurisprudence in Pakistan would be under the impression that Pakistan and India never separated. The reliance Pakistani jurists, judges and lawyers place on Indian judgements and case law … Read entire article »

Shahran Asim A rare collection of a joint letter of Quaid and Gandhi on the riots in Bengal Click here … Read entire article »