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 »
A Battle of Ideas
by Abdul Majeed Abid “When I knew that they were burning our schools, I thought they were burning education, they were burning books. I have to be educated. I’ll be educated no matter what the odds.” Malala Yousafzai Last Week’s attack on Malala Yousafzai, a 14 year old beacon of hope from Swat, garnered all sorts of reactions. Most people were shocked by the brutality of the perpetrators. The timing of that attack, in my opinion, was an extremely unfortunate one as it co-incided with the ending of PTI’s “Peace March” towards Waziristan. Attack on Malala has been construed as a stepping stone to military operation in Waziristan, a primer that turns public opinion towards a certain tilt. Conspiracy theories have been spun at an alarming pace about involvement of various Intelligence Agencies … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Democracy, Education, FATA, Islam, Islamism, Pakistan, Religion, Society, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, violence, Women
Dr Shakil Afridi, How dare you?
by Abdul Majeed Mr. Shakil Afridi, the infamous doctor involved in the ‘fake’ vaccination drive that became the chief source of intelligence about OBL and his family, was sentenced recently under the FCR regulations to 33 years in prison. Dr Shakil was sentenced according to Section 121 (waging war against the state) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). US secretary of the State, Hillary Clinton expressed dismay over this action and demanded a fair trial for … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Conservation, Doctors, FATA, human rights, ISI, Islam, Islamabad, Judiciary, Law, liberal Pakistan, North-West Frontier Province, Peshawar, Religion, USA
America Still Survives under Fear of Its Security despite Osama’s Death
By Sidrah Zaheer: In search of Osama bin Laden, the United States went on a manhunt not seen in history. The Allied Forces, and in particular America, should be thankful that Adolf Hitler committed suicide or else there would had been more death and destruction to hunt him down too. Still to this day, there are articles, books, and documentaries based on a conspiracy theory that Hitler somehow managed to deceive the world about his death … Read entire article »
How Trolls are confounding the Shia Rights Discourse
by Abdul Majeed An article recently published in a notorious blog went on to criticize The Friday Times, Raza Rumi, Saleem Javed, Khaled Ahmad and Ali Chishti,because they dared to use the word “sectarian killings” instead of “Shia genocide” which is the term favored by the author of that post. The article also posited that there is a systemic genocide committed against Shias and that the #DeepState is somehow promoting it. The author did not specify exactly what benefit the #DeepState gets if they are actually complicit, when all it does is to actually compromise and damage its own writ and control. The article wanted us to believe that “Sectarian Violence/Genocide” is being “mis-represented” as a Proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The article mentioned the plight of the Hazara … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Army, baluchistan, Citizens, Democracy, Iran, Islam, Media, Pakistan, quetta, Religion, Society, Taliban, Uncategorized, USA
Fallacies that befuddle the ‘educated’ Pakistani mind
by Abdul Majeed Wise people always say, Do not try to present complex matters in black and white terms as it will defeat the purpose. To quote Paul Valery: “That which is simple is always false; that which is not simple is always unusable”. Kala Kawa, a widely read blogger, recently wrote, “Something I Wrote On Pakistan Day”. In that particular blogpost, the blogger expressed his opinion about “confronting your own biases or assumptions” and “middle class … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Conservation, Islam, Islamism, Pakistan, Politics, Society, Taliban, Terrorism, Women
Rebuttal to Dr. Taqi’s “Balochistan’s Ho Chi Minh Moment”
By Yasser Latif Hamdani It seems that there is a section within Pakistan’s intelligentsia that equates liberalism with unquestioning loyalty to Baloch separatism. In other words it does not matter if you believe in a separation of church and state, equal rights for women and minorities and other things that would be considered the touchstones of liberalism in most countries of the world – if you do not believe in the righteousness of the cause of Baloch nationalism you cannot be considered a liberal. A corollary of this argument is that a true liberal is by definition anti-Pakistan! A true liberal – according to this definition- is necessarily pro-ethno-nationalism and pro-India. Any deviation from this sanctioned liberalism means you are a product of Pakistan Studies. Consider for example the views of Dr. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, baluchistan, Citizens, Colonialism, Constitution, Islamabad, Law, Left, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, liberal Pakistan, Marxism, minorities
The Afghanistan Stalemate
By Saad Hafiz: It is getting very difficult after the Bin Laden episode to explain Pakistan’s doublespeak on terrorism and the Taliban to increasingly skeptical Western friends. The ambiguous Pakistani terrorism strategy of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds is now recognized as official State policy. The Islamabad mantra describes “good” or “moderate” Taliban as those that are engaged in a nationalist struggle against coalition forces in Afghanistan. The good Taliban are expected to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Terrorism
Not doubting, just concerned
By RAJA FATAH ALI What about our Nukes? Are they save enough? Who were they? They belongs to CIA, MOSSAD, even RAW. They can’t be Al-Qaida. Well after claiming the responsibility, if someone say, “How claiming the attacks means that Al-Qaida or Talban did that, even I can claim the responsibility of attack, then I am not sure about his mental health”. Because we all can judge in a minute or so that who were they, if we had a very good look at situation and anger shown by Tehreek-e-Talban Pakistan after OBL operation in Abotabad. But we were calm because we want some real proof and intelligence or investigation report which can confirm Al-Qaida or Talban or if we do not be so specific about them, then we want a solid … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda
Things More Important than Sovereignty and Honor
Zia Ahmad Two days ago, a motley crew of a handful militants raided and occupied a highly sensitive and supposedly heavily fortified Naval air base in Karachi. The ensuing battle lasted for sixteen plus hours at the cost of ten military personnel, fourteen injuries and two surveillance planes. Bear in mind, these are the official numbers. We can’t really blame the people if they find the official toll of damages suspect and assume a higher count of casualties. It is also said that a contingent of a hundred commandos was deployed to reclaim the naval base. Let’s run the numbers again: … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Army, Karachi, Taliban, Terrorism, violence, Yusuf Raza Gillani
No more glory, izzat da tukkar please!
By Raza Rumi Pakistan’s only viable and efficient institution has been attacked. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has accepted the responsibility for intruding into well guarded naval and air force bases; and managed to destroy state of the art equipment – two PC3 Orion aircraft costing millions of dollars – in a long drawn out operation. The nightmare is over now. At least 10 security officials have been martyred in line of their duty and according to the Interior Minister … Read entire article »
Is It America’s War Really?
By D. Asghar Is it “America’s War” really? If so then why is Pakistan facing the worst of it. Why is Pakistan taking so many casualties on a daily basis? How many more “conspiracies” do we need to wake us up from our deep slumber? If anything PNS Mehran incident should be an eye opener for those who are in delusion about the real enemy. Throngs of “patriots” gathered barely 24 hours ago, prior to this horrific incident, sending a strong message to their perceived enemy, “No more drones” and “No more violation of our sovereignty.” Whether it was Peshawar or Karachi, the right wingers were spewing their same old anti US rhetoric. Yet completely ignoring the real enemy, actually dismissing any such impression as a malicious propaganda. Those in denial … Read entire article »
The Empire strikes back
By Saad Hafiz “I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden” a resolute looking President Obama announced to the world. America had violently dealt with another Public Enemy ala Billy the Kid, Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger. The moment smacks of frontier justice, but it was the only choice given the alternative of a long, drawn out trial and probable execution. Once the hoopla dies down, America must go back to addressing its growing 14 trillion dollar national debt and chronic 9% unemployment rate. Progress on cutting the debt and reducing unemployment will count more towards Obama’s reelection prospects than a dead Bin Laden. That Bin Laden had to be a US kill was a … Read entire article »
The trajectory of peace
By Raza Rumi The dramatic events of the past few days have far-reaching repercussions on the future of global terrorism and US policy in Afghanistan and West Asia. Osama bin Laden may have been removed from the scene, but Al Qaeda lives as a hybrid conglomerate with formidable allies in Pakistan and elsewhere. Whilst a plethora of questions on Bin Laden’s capture and death remains unanswered, Pakistan has, once again, come under global scrutiny admittedly for the right reasons. Most Pakistanis are dumbfounded by the sudden discovery of Bin Laden virtually under the nose of the military and the mysterious way in which Operation Geronimo was carried out by the United States. Despite the hard talk, it is clear that the US-Pakistan relationship is not going to be majorly affected by the recent turn of … Read entire article »
OBL saga and Pakistan’s crisis of governance
My piece for The News, Pakistan As details of Operation Geronimo unfold, more and more questions are being raised regarding Pakistan’s role in the war on terror. Sadly, millions of Pakistanis are even more confused than the global pundits. Other than the lunatic fringe thriving in the folds of mainstream media, ordinary Pakistanis are dumbfounded at the prospect of the world’s most wanted man living next to the deep state’s power-house, i.e., the Pakistan military academy. If bin Laden was indeed residing in a purpose-built house with extra thick walls and security cameras then how come Pakistan’s most ‘efficient’ institution was unaware of this lethal presence? Furthermore, if they were not involved in the operation then how could a mammoth defence establishment allow such a clandestine operation by a foreign country … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda
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