Death of a Nation
by Hafsa Khawaja Holding on in the midst of political, social and economic storms, the Pakistan of today is an illustration of an almighty bedlam. Unsurprisingly, death and destruction have now eased into humdrum routinely occurrences for most people; Predictably throwing a cloak of desensitization over them; giving rise to chronic apathy. A common trend that has been nurtured in this environment is the juxtaposition of tragedies for comparisons to exhibit selectivity of people’s reactions and responses. To question … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, culture, drama, History, human rights, Identity, Opinion, Pakistan, Society, violence, war
Hasta Siempre, Comandante Hugo Chavez: a great leader
By Asif Jehangir Naqshbandi-Haqqani Hugo Chavez died yesterday to the predictable gloating of the right-wing press both in the USA and also, sadly, here in the United Kingdom. I say sadly because here was a man who in his fourteen years of rule had a profound change on his nation’s fortunes, particularly on the lives of the weakest members of society. For me, the measure of success and greatness of both a county, at a national level, and of a person, at an individual level is how they treat the poorest, weakest and most down-trodden of the society. In my opinion, and I’ll be the first to admit that my religious views play a large role in this outlook, how we treat our fellow human beings who are not as well … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Rising power?
By Yusra Askari Connecting With the World In Their Own Voice: Bridging the Mainstream Media Gap from PeaceNiche on Vimeo. I was asked to moderate a panel discussion at the ‘Social Media Mela 2012’. Scheduled for the 14th of July, the debate was titled ‘Connecting with the World In Their Own Voice: Bridging the Mainstream Media Gap’ and focused on the challenges faced by region’s minorities. Among the participants; Smita Choudhary, a rights activist working in Chattisgarh and from Kashmir, Sabbah Haji and Raheel Khursheed. Representing the minorities of Pakistan, Imran Jattala of the Ahmediya Times, Anthony Permal, a Pakistani Christian based in Dubai and rights activist, Irfan Ali, a member of Quetta’s Shia Hazara community. The participants spoke passionately about the threats facing their respective communites. All in attendance agreed, one voice clearly stood … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogging, Opinion, Technology
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
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 »
Israeli conflict
By Daniyal Hasan Gaza combat has given all the emotional fools who think of themselves as responsible of entire Ummah, a feeling of satisfaction because they are living the situation they love to have. Youth is provoking emotions by sharing the sentimental and fake pictures of burnt children on social networking websites. Some are also demanding to send the Pakistani troops to help the Palestinians as if Pakistan army consists of ubiquitous super heroes. Those who exploit … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Outside in
From whence came the rivers By Shahbaz Ali Khan Shahbaz, a former Industry relations and PR professional, has spent the past 8 years experimenting with the frontiers of professional competence by insisting on not specializing in anything but thinking, communicating and writing. He tweets at @intensedesigns Having recently moved to this ancient city, I felt I had to share the joy it has given me since my arrival. I will tell you why I love Lahore. This is not the … Read entire article »
The case for micro-financing
By Laila Rehman Laila Rehman is Social Media Manager for SilkSkin, overseeing monetary optimization on their earned, paid and owned digital platforms. She is based in Karachi. A report released last month by the World Bank unearthed evidence that less than 25% of Pakistani women use micro-finance loans. The report takes a closer look at two challenges facing the micro-finance sector in Pakistan. The first is the potentially widespread practice of women borrowers acting as conduits for loans passed on to other beneficiaries. The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Freedom of speech
By Ms Kiran Rizvi There has been a mention or two of the alleged ‘freedom of speech’ in USA, primarily in regard to the anti-Islam movie that attracted undue attention all over the world. While everything is to be taken in context, I felt that the subject needed some clarification after I read a piece on Viewpoint from an expatriate Pakistani professor residing in US. While I can understand that it is hard to comprehend this … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Communication demystified
By Amena Kamaal The writer is a communications guru working with the world food program and based in Islamabad The changes in the communication landscape in the last few years distinctly reflect the changes in human behavior we’ve been observing and experiencing ourselves over the past few years – changes brought upon by new technologies. Think about how we consume information nowadays, as well as what we expect from the creators of this information in terms of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Who Question’s the Innocence of Whom?
By Fatima Chowdhry Religions drips with blood, ironically with the blood of the innocent. And yet it is an irony that a religion which was created to promote peace has become the cause of bloodshed. Yes , in the name of freedom of speech movies like “Innocence of Muslims” which are serving to cause pain to Muslim sentiment and incite the radical elements to violence in a current political environment that does not need murder and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Malala: I am Pakisan
By Jehan Naseem “Live #Malala Live. Can someone pls tell me how I explain to my 11yr old daughter why anyone would try to kill 14yr old”? That was one of the first tweets that caught my eye on October 9th, 2012 by Dr. Adil Najam the Vice Chancellor of LUMS. That was exactly the anxiety and dread I was suffering from. Since my nieces, ages ranging from 9 to 12 years old, have a habit of picking up the newspaper, attempting to read it and ask random questions. Unfortunately, if there is a picture of a 14 year girl with a severe gunshot wound on the front page, it is bound to catch another child’s attention and invoke curiosity. The very next day, my 10 year-old niece did just that. The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
Imran’s Peace March into Waziristan
By Prof. Farah A. Khan: On September 7th Imran’s PTI Peace marchers against drone attacks in Waziristan reached 20 km from Tank at the border of South Waziristan Agency but were stopped from going to Kotkai by the army. His opponents were ANP, JUI-F, PPP and PML-N who have never offered a solution to Fata issue. They have finally found common ground to unite against Imran. Maulvi Fazal (JUI-F) went over board. He accused Imran of not holding on to his Jewish wife and his children living abroad were being brought up by a Jewish mother. Under Islam this is nonsense. He also claimed that Imran was pushing Israeli agenda (Yahood and Ansara) but could not explain how and distributed pamphlets and made announcements in the mosques to the same effect. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Opinion
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