Pak Tea House » Archive
Nawaz Sharif, Army and India
Raza Habib Raja Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister elect, is considered a conservative by most of the Pakistani liberals. Yet, in some areas his point of view has been strikingly divergent from the mainstream conservative thought, particularly that which one continues to hear from the TV anchors all the time. The two areas which make Nawaz Sharif stand out are: his continued emphasis on need to have better ties with India; and his hard stance towards Pakistan Army. Any fair assessment ( even if conducted by “liberals”) has to acknowledge, Nawaz Sharif’s bold and in fact anti mainstream conservative approach in these two interrelated areas. These two are intricately intertwined because Pakistan’s security doctrine has always been built around India. Ever since independence, first due to fear of re-annexation and later due … Read entire article »
PTI and PPP: What Went Wrong?
Raza Habib Raja I must admit one thing: I had never expected around two years ago that Imran Khan’s Facebook supporters will actually come out on the polling day and vote. In fact not only they came out but they actually instilled passion and enthusiasm in the entire election campaign. Imran has motivated them and touched the raw visceral nerve of the class which previously has largely been apolitical. His appeal also influenced many of the youngsters from major urban cities who all came out during the campaign filling huge venues like Minar-e-Pakistan. Apart from that Imran’s influence was also dominant in conservative belt of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP). These three set of demographics formed the core constituency of Imran Khan. Moreover, another set of voter, has voted for PTI is the PPP voter … Read entire article »
Imran Khan, Taliban and Ahmedis
Raza Habib Raja Recently once again Imran Khan is in news for all the wrong reasons. First, he denied TTP’s involvement in Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and then followed it up with refuting “rumors” that he had sought Ahmedis support in the coming election. He also categorically denied that he will change 1973’s constitution (which made Islam a state religion) or repeal the controversial Second Amendment. Understandably, both these news have created uproar at least among those who consider themselves as liberals in Pakistan. Since our liberalism is now restricted to Facebook and Twitter, I saw tweets as well as status FB updates expressing horror over Imran Khan’s recent statements. First of all, let me make one thing clear that if I had even tiniest inclination to vote for Imran Khan, his latest … Read entire article »
Why Religion Could Not Unite Pakistan
Raza Habib Raja Today’s Pakistan displays strange contrasting patterns with respect to religion’s influence. Apparently Pakistan looks to be a relatively moderate country particularly when compared to the likes of Iran , Afghanistan , Saudi Arabia etc. Here the hardliners have never been voted in power through the ballot box. It has an independent media and relatively loose censorship standards. Radical Islam as a mode of life is still largely absent from the overall lifestyle of the Pakistanis as the country by no stretch of imagination is following the trajectory of Iran. It does not have the charismatic cultish religious leader like Khomeini and the public mood despite being conservative is hardly appreciative of hard line version of Islam when it comes to ballot box. Anyone coming from abroad for the first … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bangladesh, Identity, India, Islam
Same Story Every Time
Raza Habib Raja Once again, a Christian colony has been attacked in Gujranwala and with similar results. Once again the alleged “Insult to Islam” has been used to vent out gutter instincts. Once again it is the ordinary masses who have been involved, putting this theory to dust bin that masses are just trying to meet their ends meet and are hence immune to religious chauvinism. Last time when Joseph colony in Lahore was attacked, some of … Read entire article »
Filed under: minorities, Religion
What are Imran Khan’s Chances?
Raza Habib Raja I will be lying, if I underestimate the PTI show in Lahore. No matter, how cynical you are, grand rallies like these never fail to impress. Imran Khan is back and with a bang. In an eerily similar way to 30th October 2011 ( when he came out of age and announced himself as a potential political force), I once again witnessed an inspiring display of patriotism and passion. I have differed with … Read entire article »
Attack on Christians: The Real Tragedy is Even More Horrifying
Raza Habib Raja What happened in Lahore yesterday has again put our heads to shame. A Christian was accused of insulting Holy Prophet and soon after the mob attacked the Christian colony forcing its inhabitants to flee. Under pressure from the mob, Police had to file charges against the accused man. The communal violence is not new to Pakistan and for that matter South Asia as the history of this entire region is full of incidents. However, … Read entire article »
Filed under: minorities, Pakistan, Religion
Perils of Arundhati Roy Style Liberalism
Raza Habib Raja As a philosophy liberalism is more inward looking and hence does not try to shift blame on the outside forces. By its orientation, it also does not have an overly negative assumption about human nature and consequently is not obsessed with crime and punishment. It believes in the rationality of humans and further assumes that human intelligence is capable of creating an artifice where ethnic, linguistic and other such “ natural” differences can … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Imperialism, India, Marxism, Taliban
Indians and Pakistanis
Abhinav Pandya This article is written by one of my close friends at Cornell. I am grateful to him for contributing for PTH. Raza Habib Raja I remember, back home, every morning my brother would bring me the newspaper which had something on ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) as the lead organization behind everything happening in India ranging from farmer suicides, corruption scandals, black money to terrorism. The next day, same newspaper would be stuffed with the statements of hardliners trying to espouse the escapist brand of patriotism in order to run away from the real issues (as it requires a lot of introspection which any fanatic breed is scared of) eventually breeding a generation of youth who thrives on these ideas of misinformed and imagined hatred. Being in … Read entire article »
Two Nation Theory and Creation of Bangladesh
Raza Habib RajaThis article is not a “defense” or repudiation of the two nation theory (TNT). Rather it tries to critically evaluate the argument that creation of Bangladesh in fact proved that the two nation theory was not valid. Those who claim that the two nation theory has proven to be a failure cite creation of Bangladesh as an example. It is claimed that ethnic nationalism trumped religion and therefore the two nation theory has proven to be a failure. I do not intend to prove that the two nation theory is wrong or right but just evaluate it with reference to creation of Bangladesh. Frankly speaking I am not a history expert and do not claim any command on minute details of partition and its various narratives. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Our Educated White Collar Class, Qadri Freak Show and Democracy
Raza Habib Raja I remember watching a standup comedy by Bill Maher who I think is one of the wittiest political satirists. One of his normal practice is to mock Americans, particularly, the Republicans for their dumbness. At one point he said, “ Oh America, I can never leave you, you amuse me.” Well If Mr. Maher was to visit Pakistan, I am sure he would immediately understand that for entertainment purpose, nothing even comes close to Pakistan. Imagine this: A Mullah with dubious credentials materializes out of nowhere and asks his followers to march to Islamabad to force dissolution of all the governments and formation of a caretaker government who would first cleanse the system. He apparently has the financial as well as logistical backing. And he further complicates the situation by presenting … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Democracy, Elections, Islamabad, Judiciary, Parliament
Why I do not support Dr Tahir ul Qadri
Tughral Turab Ali One thing that must be said for Dr. Tahir ul Qadri whether one agrees with his agenda or not is that he has caused an immense amount of debate within Pakistan, which has become increasingly divisive the longer his ‘long march’ has worn on. What it really boils down to is this: is Dr. Qadri leading the revolution that Pakistan has been waiting for? His supporters argue that he is and also that he … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
The Dwindling Hope and the Case for Military Action
Raza Habib Raja Terrorism has again struck Shiites in Quetta killing many people. As I write these sentences, the targeted Hazaras who have witnessed massacre over the past many years, are refusing to bury the bodies and demanding direct military rule in Quetta. This is the lowest Pakistan can get where the state has become so dysfunctional that people actually start wanting direct military rule. In the rest of the Pakistan, there have been sporadic protests … Read entire article »
Bilawal Bhutto’s speech and why I will Vote for PPP
Raza Habib Raja Let me be clear: I don’t like legacy politics. However, I do understand that in the context of South Asian politics, it is perhaps the only way for the political parties to survive. So when Bilawal was launched, I had mixed feelings. Knowing that PPP has a consistent vote bank and the internal culture of the party is such that if anyone drawing direct lineage from Bhutto is made the leader, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Benazir Bhutto, Democracy, dynasties, Egalitarian Pakistan, Elections, Liberal Democratic Pakistan
Recent Comments