Zardari: Made of tougher mettle
By Saria Benazir The rumors of an impending coup further perforate into the already adverse political situation in the country, following the memo gate issue. This is another incredible issue, much like the incredible memo-an unsigned paper seemingly no importance to the White House has subjugated the whole country to a farce played out by our very laudable Supreme Court and the establishment. And now this new addition furthers the attack on Pakistani democracy. The likelihood of President Asif Ali Zardari’s resignation, as stated by the American Foreign Policy blog has created a hullabaloo throughout the country, and people seem to have unquestioningly placed their convictions in that blog. The army and ISI already own Pakistan, what about the Head of State? Does the US decide the resignations of Pakistani officials as … Read entire article »
Feeble excuses
By Saria Benazir The month of december has begun with conspiracies that further taint the already disastrous situation society and politics is in. The future of Pakistan is indeed obscure amidst “patriotic” plots. I cannot repress the history that I have known since my childhood. No child in Pakistan is raised up without having the seeds of pro-Jihadist ideas sowed in his mind. If not family, textbooks provide enough propaganda. These ideas are later malformed into radicalism, we instead term it “Islamisation”, or the pathetic “patriotism”, the definitions of which still elude us. A person, who is not thus “Islamic” or “patriotic” is termed as a “liberal”, the most reviled word in the dictionary. Let us take the memo gate scandal as an example of this moral corruption. On December 1 the Chief Justice of Pakistan began a program … Read entire article »
The Case of a Curious Memo
PTH is proud to publish this exclusive piece written by Ali Aftab Saeed (who made his mark as the creator of the famed Aalu Anday song by the beghayrat brigade band). Ali is remarkable for his clarity on progressive politics and he dispels the myth that Pakistan’s youth have been brainwashed by right wing media and doctored history textbooks. All power to him and hundreds of thousands like Ali – who need a voice. PTH … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy
The Curious Case of Suo Moto Notice of Ms. Odho’s Wine Bottles
By D. Asghar Any reasonable person will not disagree, that if Ms. Odho was violating any law by carrying two wine bottles in her luggage, from Islamabad to Karachi on a PIA flight, she is answerable. If there is a law that requires her to declare the spirits she is carrying, with her on a domestic flight, then it should be enforced. There is no question that Ms. Odho is a frequent traveler and more than likely … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Fashion, Images, Judiciary, lawyers movement, Pakistan, Politics, Society
Saleem Shahzad’s Passing: And The Score Is Despair 3, Hope 0
By D. Asghar Nothing can be more disheartening, than news of someone’s brutal murder. This year started out with a tragic and insane murder of Governor Salman Taseer in Islamabad. That killer who was supposed to be the “bodyguard”, Mumtaz Qadri surrendered on the spot. Or else we would still be looking for Taseer’s assassin. The indifferent attitude of many was appalling. Their callous and cruel display towards his point of view was to say the least, beyond shameful. It was followed by the equally gruesome murder of the Minorities Minister, Shahbaz Bhatti. He was gunned down and till date his killers are perhaps roaming. Of course his life was not such a precious thing to many, perhaps because of his belief. In both of these cases, the cold and crazy … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, journalism, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan, secular Pakistan, Terrorism
From Establishment’s Proxy to Democratic Conservatism
Raza Habib Raja The Post Osama Bin Laden political landscape is continuously heating up and is marked by growing chasm between army and the civilians. However, out of prominent political players the party which is blatantly asking the right questions is not a “liberal” party but a conservative party. What makes the whole scenario interesting and even ironic is that the party in question was once the proxy of the establishment. The same party which once needed crutches of the so called “deep state” is now the vanguard of democracy. Yes, right now the questions, which should be asked are not asked by “liberal” parties but a party whose genesis were in the darkest and most shameful period of Zia’s Martial Law. Yes, there will be people who may not agree … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy
Nations within a Nation – The Search for a Pakistani Nation – 2
By Adnan Syed “Indeed, world is ruled by little else but ideas.” — John Maynard Keynes The Two Nation Theory and Inequality in the New State of Pakistan The two nation theory was primarily based on distinctive majority-two-nations within United India. The distinction was cultural as well as religious, where both of these characteristics freely overlapped each other. Given the dominance of religion within the edifice of the Muslim nation, it was inevitable that religion will form a large part in the new nation state that was carved due to the Muslim nation identity. And given a strong tradition of political Islam within the Muslim body, it was inevitable that the very political Islam will find its way through the vague contours of the shifting idea of an Indian Muslim nation … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Egalitarian Pakistan, History, Identity, Islam, Islamism, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Religion, Rights, secular Pakistan, secularism
Yielding in Front of Extremism
By Adnan Syed I am attaching two links here that movingly touch upon the state of barbarity that is inflicted upon the nation of Pakistan. Please give thirteen minutes of your precious time to the moving words of Member National Aseembly Mrs. Asia Nasir. These words describe the anguish and pain of the very Pakistanis who are being discriminated by the society, as well as by the institutions of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Terror reigns supreme in Pakistan. The righteous ones are hunting and killing everyone who calls for absolute equality of every human inside the boundaries of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. And in this environment, this brave lady comes out and unequivocally condemns the barbarity that the religious minorities are facing. She has more guts than the spineless members of parliament … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Egalitarian Pakistan, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, Justice, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Pak Tea House, Religion, Rights, state, Taliban
Fascists strike again in Pakistan: Minorities Minister killed
Raza Rumi Sometimes it feels we are living in stone age where no dissent and no call for a tolerant society is possible. Murder, violence, mayhem are the order of the day. Today, we mourn the death of Shahbaz Bhatti who had been repeatedly threatened, but not intimidated. It is time for Pakistan’s political parties to take stock of this situation and get their own ideological house in order before they are wiped out as well. Pakistani … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islamism, secular Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism
Diplomatic Immunity for Afghan Ambassador in Islamabad
By Dr. Irfan Zafar “When we arrived in Peshawar I was taken to a lavishly-fitted office. A Pakistani flag stood on the desk, and a picture of Mohammad Ali Jinnah hung at the back of the room, I was in the devil’s workshop, the regional head office of the ISI.It was eleven o’clock at night and I was getting ready to go to bed when the door to my cell suddenly opened. A man entered; he was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Democracy
The ideology is the same
By Khamosh nahi Protectors of Islam: Indonesia vs Pakistan It’s the same glint. From Afghanistan to Pakistan, Bangladesh to Somalia and now, Indonesia. Slay in the name of the lord, GOD’s army has mobilized. The prophet’s eternal guardians have once again assembled. The louder the adolescent, the teenage, and the aged of the mob shout ALLAH O AKBAR, the harder, the mob leaders strike limp, fallen, naked bodies of the “infidels”. The crowd cheers and raises the slogan again. Oh there is the brother, a golden halo around his Nokia, capturing video he changes angle while the brother with the musk smelling beard, stops hitting the twitching kafir. He is tired and his back hurts from all the work. The boy, youngish, its his first time, nods to his tired comrade, raises up … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islam, Pakistan, Politics, Terrorism
Meltdown in Tunisia and Its Relevance to Pakistan
By Adnan Bashir A twenty six years old young computer science graduate roams about in hunt of employment. There are no job openings and the inflation is sky rocketing. The young man is forced to sell fruits and vegetables in the streets to make his both ends meet. He doesn’t have the licence and one fine day the police intervenes and confiscates his cart. The young man is incensed and sets himself on fire. Sounds familiar? This is not Pakistan. But this may well be Pakistan……! There are obvious parallels to be drawn from the circumstances leading to revolt in Tunisia. Corruption, nepotism and unemployment were rampant. The society was said to be virtually divided in two classes. First, the elites and a closely knitted network and clan of top brass comprising relatives of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Citizens, Colonialism, Constitution, Democracy, dynasties, Economy, human rights, Law, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Politics, poverty, Rights, Uncategorized
Spectators Never Win!
by Ahmad Nadeem Gehla Stop fooling yourself! You want others to fight for you? That would not happen. You want PPP to fight for a liberal Pakistan. Be a part of that struggle! Not a spectator! Who is most vocal in vicious propaganda campaign against Pakistan’s only political party with liberal and democratic credentials? Not fundamentalists alone. Powerful military establishment, judges, journalists and liberal rights activists were not behind either. Well, military establishment living a utopian dream of controlling the world through ‘children of Zia’ had an agenda to weaken the liberal and secular party. Why did liberal, leftist and secular segments of society including journalists, rights activists, lawyers and laborers participated in that campaign? Had they an alternate? Today a weakened and isolated PPP is trying to survive by making all sorts … Read entire article »
2010: A roller coaster year
Raza Rumi Nearly three years after the restoration of civilian rule, the most pertinent question would be the fate of Pakistan’s democratisation and how far has it progressed. There can be no simple answers to this question given that Pakistan is in the midst of a war next door and battling against homegrown extremists. The conflict and 2010’s natural disaster in the shape of floods have adversely impacted the economy. Whilst the passage of 18th and 19th Amendment to the much mutilated Constitution have heralded political reforms, sadly, a comprehensive institutional reform agenda is nowhere in sight. At the end of 2010, we find ourselves facing the prospect of political instability due to a weak and opportunistic coalition and unresolved issues of civil-military imbalance. Democratisation scuttled?: The year started with increased pressure by … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Pakistan, public policy
Kashmir’s Troubles
While at PTH, we do not indulge in cliched fights over the Kashmir issue, the plight of Kashmiris needs to be mentioned. Below we are reproducing an article from The Economist that we believe does a decent job in highlighting the present state of affairs, as well as the emerging developments in the Indian Administered Kashmir (Admin, PTH). From The Economist Dec 29, 2010 A GROUP of special Indian police barged into a white-painted, single-storey house on the crisp morning of October 27th. They let their lathis do the talking. The wooden batons were first rammed through all the windows, furniture and a television. When the grey-haired owners protested, the rods were turned on them. The police broke the husband’s leg and beat his wife’s flesh a sickly purple. Before leaving, the officers … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, human rights, India, Islam, Islamabad, Kashmir, Uncategorized
PTH biweekly Cartoon
Picture of the Week
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Sunrise at the Arabian Sea, Charna Island
24 Dec 2011
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