No taxation with representation
By Saad Hafiz: One is probably familiar with a inspirational slogan of The American Revolution: ‘No taxation without representation’, originating in the 1750s and 1760s, which meant that the British imposition of taxes on its American colonies was unacceptable without the expressed will of the people. In Pakistan an arguably perverse view of this American proclamation has been historically in the vogue; ‘No taxation with representation’ which means that rich Pakistanis including a significant percentage of national and provincial legislators, among others, do not pay taxes, forcing the government to rely primarily on foreign assistance to prop up finances. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that Pakistan must tax its elite if it wants to continue receiving financial assistance: “This is one of my pet peeves; Countries that will not tax … Read entire article »
Hate Virus in Our Society
By Obaid Ullah Khan: Ours is a diseased society and anyone with sanity would hardly differ with it. Many a times a single disease causes multiple symptoms in a body. A deep study of our diseased society may reveal that there is a virus of Hate in our society causing many deteriorating symptoms. Our society as a whole is suffering from the effects of Hate, whether be it individually, socially, politically and most important of all religiously. Anyone can understand that hate is the opposite feeling of Love which is a positive emotion in the human and essential in nurturing positive and constructive tendencies in human character, in contrast to that we are the followers of hate, causing a downfall in our individual and national character as a whole. The outcomes of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Forget Siachin… What’s a Glacier?
By Josh Shahryar: As an Afghan refugee in Pakistan, the first time I heard about Siachen I thought, “Black China? What’s that?” Since in Farsi, Sia is black and Cheen is China. To my young mind, it was just another Urdu word that I needed to learn and then get excited over. I read the one rupee Tarzan and Omroo Ayyar story books and the first time I learned what chalaang meant, I literally jumped! Back to … Read entire article »
Siachen what next?
By Prof Farakh A Khan (22.4.12): On April 7, 2012 an avalanche (or Glacier Surge) buried the battalion headquarter under hundreds of feet of snow and boulders in Siachen’s Gayari sector killing some 130 people (Syed, Baqir Sajjad and Ali Farman. Intense rescue efforts under way. Dawn. April 8, 2012; Baabar, Mariana. US, India offer help in Siachen search operation. The News. April 9, 2012). This suddenly jolted Siachen in focus. Unfortunately we know very little … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Will mainstream media speak for the voiceless?
By Amaar Ahmad: The last counsel by the Holy Prophet (pbuh) right before his passing away was for Muslims to guard against violating the rights of women and the slaves. In the Islam Republic of Pakistan today, that should have automatically meant that the rights of vulnerable and weak are safeguarded zealously. Instead, a declaration of war seems to have been made against the dispossessed and the powerless – especially the women and religious minorities of this country. The last few years have witnessed a horrific increase in incidents against vulnerable people. To add insult to injury this is often justified in the name of religion one way or another. When it comes to the treatment of women we know that domestic abuse, acid attacks and honour killings have become an utterly ugly but inseparable feature of our society. The few legislative measures … Read entire article »
When Torture Became Virtue
By Ayesha Noor: On March 30th, 43-year-old Master Abdul Qudoos lost the battle of his life in Rabwah, Pakistan. A relatively young man, he did not die of a heart attack, nor did he die of a fatal accident, neither of a lethal bomb explosion. Instead, he was tortured to death. His tormentors were not the Taliban nor do they belong to any banned militant organization. They were not even his opponents from a never-ending land dispute. Instead, his tormentors were the very policemen committed to protecting him. Master Abdul Qudoos was born as a Muslim in 1960’s Pakistan, with every equal and free human right afforded to all Pakistani citizens. But, in the 1970’s, Prime Minister Bhutto took away his right to call himself a Muslim. Then, in the 1980’s, Dictator General Zia ul Haqq took away his right to “pose” as a Muslim, under threat of imprisonment and death. In the 1990’s, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif … Read entire article »
Intrigues to Incriminate Ahmadis in State Rebellion
By Aziz Bilal: Remembering Qadir & Qudoos It would not be inappropriate to commemorate the sacrifices that the Ahmadiyya community has offered in its commitment for peace and promoting unity in Pakistan and elsewhere. Ahmadis – who have greatly developed the instinct of being peace loving, law abiding, respectful of every nation they dwell in, affectionate and welcoming to every religious communities they live with, watchful of always defending the integrity of Pakistan & Islam throughout the … Read entire article »
Today’s Murderer – Tomorrow’s Hero
By Aziz Bilal: Remembering Abdul Qudoos It’s been long since I did my Pakistan Studies course and learned that the Objective Resolution of Pakistan has as its leading contour; “Whereas sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust.” I still recall the extreme honoured sensation while bearing in mind my existence in a realm which accepts … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
OBL, Saddam and the War on Terror
By Hassan Naqvi: Ever since Man learned to swing a sword there have 2 types of conflicts: Those that revolve around issues and those that revolve around people. The current war on Terror was meant to be the latter type. The ultimate objective of the Iraq invasion was to vanquish Saddam Hussein. The ultimate point of the Afghanistan Invasion was to vanquish Osama Bin Laden. It could be said the war on terror was initially just a man hunt for these two. Now Saddam is dead, and Osama is dead yet the war continues. Furthermore it continues with no end in sight. When President Mubarik stepped down in January last year the Egyptian revolution ended. When Hitler committed suicide in 1945 WWII ended. Conflicts that revolve around people end when those … Read entire article »
Returning to a “people-centred” ideology
By Saad Hafiz: It can be argued that Pakistan in its early years pursued Mr. Jinnah’s pragmatic approach to cope with its survival as a newly-formed state. Mr. Jinnah advocated an inclusive society based on shared values such as equality, justice and fair play. This common sense approach built on the broad principles of pragmatism served to stabilize a young nation. Many of Pakistan’s problems stem from the inability to sustain a shared socio-political vision of what ‘the nation’ stands for, as various leaders after Mr. Jinnah used all means of political and social engineering to emphasize a narrow partisan Islamic ideology and orientation for the country. Generally speaking, different nations’ ideologies are influenced mainly by the standard of materialism and the intrinsic attitude of worldliness of man. Money and power that … Read entire article »
Failures in Iraq & Afghan Wars: 4 Revealing Discussions about Two Wars Gone Wrong
We are sharing four revealing interviews about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on Democracy Now! today. -Journalist Neil Shea provides insight into understanding the recent massacre of 16 Afghan civilians and the psychological trauma experienced by U.S. soldiers. “When we cycle our soldiers and Marines through wars that don?t really have a clear purpose over years and years, we expect light-switch control over their aggression,” Shea says. “We expect to be able to turn them into killers and then turn them back into winners of hearts and minds. When you do that to a man or a woman over many years, that light-switch control begins to fray.” http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/16/afghan_massacre_sheds_light_on_culture -Psychologist and filmmaker Jan Haakan embeds with military therapists to explore the inner battle being waged to keep service members on the battlefield for … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Pakistan should support Iran as its long-term policy
By Prof Farakh A Khan: (Iran: it holds 10% of oil and 15% of gas reserves of the world, population 76,900,300, literacy (over 15 years) 80%, life expectancy 70.86, area 1,648,195 sq. km. Wikipedia, 2012) Iran is in the hot seat these days with its nuclear development plan. The US and Israel fear that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb and are threatening to bomb nuclear sites in Iran. If Iran is bombed what would be the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Islamabad Diary: Tech-savvy Taliban?
By Shahzad Raza: Hilarious! And knots in the stomach are guaranteed. A fly on the wall has told me that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman recently received a rather amusing threat. Someone calling himself “Punjabi Taliban” asked him to load the credit of Rs 1,000 each on five given cell phones failing to which “he would face dire consequences.” I mean, seriously. Punjabi Taliban? The cell phone credit of Rs 1,000? Why didn’t they demand a million, if not billion? No wonder if the Taliban are keeping low profile these days, should we call it tech-savvy tactical back-foot maneuvering? But wait! Isn’t a tremendous business potential for the operators? What about launching a “Taliban Package” with free off-peak-hour calls to the USA, UK and other top-on-the-hit-list destinations? The potential customers may guarantee the security … Read entire article »
Maya Khan should not be fired
Terminating Maya Khan is not the solution. In fact, it only problematizes the issue of media bullying by making an individual sound solely responsible for something perpetrated by the channel itself. By Farwa Zahra: A few weeks ago, there was a whole FHM controversy surrounding Veena Malik posing nude (read topless) for an Indian magazine. Despite the fact that it was her “personal” matter, there were arguments about morality, nationality, honour and the list goes on. Then came Maya Khan and Malik was nowhere. Television channels and newspapers started off with another round of morality debate but this time on the grounds of Khan invading people’s “private” lives by raiding public parks for couple on dates. Both the stories revolved around morality and privacy. However, the way these issues were addressed was very … Read entire article »
Recent Comments