Pak Tea House » Archive
Even death could NOT silence Benazir!
By Maleeha Manzoor Heart is torn into pieces and eyes haze while pioneering to carve my letters about fortune’s relentlessness with the millions, being suppressed since the day this country came into existence. But the murkiest December 27; 2007 – it so far chronicles the tale of wrathfulness of fate with the eighteen millions – when Benazir Bhutto, the masterful leader and the only beacon of hope, was mercilessly martyred on the streets of Rawalpindi, which still had the essence of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Benazir Bhutto, Opinion
Tahir-ul-Qadri and Doomsday Conspiracy
By Abrar Kureshy “A telecom professional, Abrar holds an MBA degree in marketing. He tweets as @Abrar_kureshy twitter.com/Abrar_Kureshy and occasionally blogs at http://abrarkureshy.wordpress.com/ “ Ok this comes in a little late as I was confused on 21st December about what to do. Curse Mayan calendar for wrongly scaring the whole world for nothing, watch the movie 2012 again and laugh or consider it alright as self-claimed “Sheikh-ul-Islam” Prof. Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri was “launched” in Pakistan on that day and in Nazir Naji’s words, after … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Are There Any Liberal “Extremists” in Pakistan?
Raza Habib Raja Lately one of the phrases being repeatedly used at the mainstream media is of “liberal extremism”. I have repeatedly heard and read that our society is polarized and both the “extremes” are equally harmful. A few columnists and anchor persons continuously point towards the “dangers” emanating from liberal extremists. Some or the other our media is trying to project itself as striking the vital middling position and professes “miana rawi” or moderation in opinion. This term is no longer just restricted to the media but has also found its way in everyday conversations and drawing room discussions. Well at least semantically a phrase like liberal extremism or liberal fascism can only be termed as an oxymoron. From a philosphical point of view you can not be a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Egalitarian Pakistan, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Opinion
Happy Birthday Mr. Jinnah
Happy Birthday Mr. Jinnah and Merry Christmas At the Karachi Club a night later, Ken Mac’s band played a special request by Muhammad Ali Jinnah — Paul Robeson’s ‘The End’, which the Quaid-e-Azam apparently used to hum while visiting his wife’s grave in Mazagaon, Bombay. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Jinnah, Uncategorized
Explaining evil acts
By Saad Hafiz: While al Qaeda and the young men shooting up the school both seek to create terror in others, only the evil acts of the first are labelled as actual terrorism Trying to explain the evil acts that kill innocents daily round the globe like the one that killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, USA, is on a par with explaining how the universe was formed. There may be no greater expression of evil than the murder of children in their classrooms. Mary O’Toole, who worked for 15 years in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit where she studied psychopaths and helped capture killers, described Adam Lanza’s well-planned shooting rampage as “callousness in the extreme” and “off the charts”. The men who resort to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Terrorism
BASHIR BILOUR SHAHEED – THE LATEST & LAST WAKE UP CALL
The Civil Society organizations, including Insani Huqooq Ittehad, and several other coalitions, NGOs, human rights activists, think tanks, researchers and academicians express our outrage, grief and sorrow at the assassination of Bashir Bilour Shaheed, in yet another targeted killing atrocity by the Taliban in Peshawar today. Pakistan has lost yet another brave fighter for progressive thought and ideology, who knew he was targeted and yet did not knuckle under or give up his political activities with his party, the ANP, or with the wider movements for rights-based education, peace and conflict resolution. His personal courage and fearless speech was exemplary, and admirable in the age of fear, expediency and compromise. We salute him and pay tribute to his courage – may his soul rest in peace. Civil Society demands that the Federal … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Pakistan, Will You Wake Up?
Raza Habib Raja During the past one week, events have occurred that have shocked me despite the fact that over the years I have become used to hearing adverse news about Pakistan. First workers carrying out Polio vaccination were killed all across the country. A young girl aged only 14 was amongst the victims. She was killed by “soldiers of Islam” who thought the entire vaccination campaign (aimed for protection of Pakistan’s children) was a grand … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Communalism and the two-nation theory
By Saad Hafiz: Press Council of India Chairperson Justice (Retd) Katju was quoted recently as saying that “Before 1857, there was zero percent communalism. Today 80 percent Hindus and 80 percent Muslims are communal.” Justice Katju is also reported to have said, “The cause of the Kashmir problem is the partition of India on a totally bogus basis — the two nation theory — that Hindus and Muslims are separate nations.” In a country which takes pride in its secular and pluralistic society with the second largest Muslim population in the world, Katju’s admission that communalism remains pervasive and that Hindu-Muslim riots can be engineered at the drop of a hat is concerning but welcome. It also raises questions about the frequently made assertion that Hinduism has always tolerated other religious viewpoints. … Read entire article »
Filed under: History
Some Closing Thoughts on Saadat Hasan Manto’s Centenary
Ras Siddiqui Born and raised in a village a few kilometers from Samrala Town, District Ludhiana on the Indian side of Punjab, the late Saadat Hasan Manto (1912 to 1955) left us horrified, speechless and even offended while he scribed for the world the depths of depravity, uncertainty and the many ironies encountered during the partition of British India (into the independent states of India and Pakistan) in 1947. For one of the greatest Urdu short story writers the world has ever known (if not the greatest as he described himself), the personal journey was as troubled as the time in history he drew inspiration from. Manto died in Lahore at the young age 42 but not without sharing his genius. Since 2012 was heralded as the Manto centenary year, this scribe … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Mahatma Gandhi on race relations between Indians, White people and Africans
By Yasser Latif Hamdani Will the real Gandhi please stand up? Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most extraordinary men in human history. While he is respected as the founding father of India by most Indians, his impact is truly global, more than any other leader from the subcontinent. He continues to inspire millions around the world and amongst those who claim to be the great man’s devotees have been leaders as diverse as Dr King and … Read entire article »
Thumbs Down Part I
I was in the United States for one month on an exchange program for youth leaders from Pakistan. Apart from innumerable things that I liked while I was there, some aspects of American life did not appeal to me as much as the rest of them. Following are some of those snippets of Daily American Life that I noticed and was not too pleased about. Extravagance United States, unlike Pakistan, has abundance of many things, including food … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogroll, Citizens, culture, Economy, Education, History, Imperialism, Multinational Corporations, USA
What Thomas Friedman has wrong on Egypt, Pakistan and India
By Yasser Latif Hamdani Thomas Friedman’s latest piece deserves to be read by every Pakistani, not because it is accurate- there are several glaring mistakes in it- but because it shows pretty much how the world views us- a basket case anti-people state. The important thing that must be underscored is that if the world views it like this it is entirely our own fault. We have made a horrible mess of things in Pakistan. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islam, Jinnah, Pakistan, south asia
Passport to Paradise
By Ghazala Akbar Every five years or so, those Pakistanis fortunate to travel for work or for pleasure go through a period of extreme anxiety and trepidation: the renewal of the green Passport. What should, in theory at least, be a routine visit to a Passport Office or an Embassy to establish a fundamental right often becomes a merry- go- round that merits inclusion in Dante’s nine circles of hell. Thankfully, not anymore. Welcome to E- Government, Pakistani-style. Some of us born in pre-historic eras (i.e. prior to 1977) are inclined to view Pakistani history through rose- tinted glasses, wallowing in nostalgia, wistful and maudlin at the sorry decline in the standards of public services. Some of it is justified, some is not. We should give credit where credit is due. Under the steady watchful eye of N.A.D.R.A. (National Data … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
What Pakistan thinks about the taliban
By Momo Khan I belong to an era in Pakistan where we fight against terrorism every single day. The stories to world of getting killed, blown up or abducted are realities to us. The thing which world fears has its home in Pakistan— the Taliban. So, what is it Taliban… to me, Taliban is a fear, a fear which is haunting our abilities to erase them, to take back the charge from them and to stop them … Read entire article »
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