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
The Giant in the East – IV
By Adnan Syed This four part series examines the rise of India as an economic giant, the threats that India faces in this remarkable rise, and implications for Pakistan. Originally planned as a three part series, I decided to split the series into four parts due to sheer volume of information that I came across while writing this series. (AZW). The Two Fundamental Assumptions Regarding future India, Pakistan must start with two fundamental assumptions: A. India’s progress is for real and will likely continue. Indian economy is beginning to compound and will consequently elevate India as one of world’s top four powers to reckon with on the world’s political stage in coming decades (along with China, US, and Europe). B. India’s military rise is inevitable along with its economic rise. However, Indian’s military rise is being … Read entire article »
Filed under: China, culture, Democracy, Economy, India, Islamabad, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Pakistan-India Peace Process, Politics, Uncategorized, USA
Where I Disagree With Some Prominent Liberals of Our Time
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 be accommodated without creating rift. Its emphasis and belief on human rationality rather than instinct logically lead it to being more fluid and progressive. Conservative point of views by and large are grounded on instincts (which are permanent) and it is no surprise that conservatives are traditionalists. Yes, within conservative side, there will be variations … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Constitution, Democracy, Judiciary, Punjabi, Taliban, Terrorism, war, Zardari
Supreme Court short order out …
By Yasser Latif Hamdani … And thank god that they have not dabbled in that horrible theory of the basic structure which would have meant closing the door on any future prospect of democratic reform in Pakistan (in my personal view). I think this is an important middle ground which has atleast restored some of the faith I had lost in our judiciary to do the right thing. Now it is upto the democratic government to meet the judiciary half way. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Constitution, Democracy, Judiciary, Justice, Law, lawyers movement, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan
Musharraf’s Core Constituency and His Prospects
By Raza Habib Raja I remember watching his last speech in a crowded room and also the huge roar when he announced his resignation. Just two years have passed and it’s amazing the way the fortunes have turned (or have they?). If election were held on facebook, Mr Musharraf’s only tough competition would come from Imran Khan!!. The “enlightened moderates” are up in arms and ready to wage a struggle (unfortunately or shall I say fortunately on facebook only) to bring their leader back. How do you explain Mr Muharraf and his sophisticated and yet confused core constituency? The constituency comprises of the segment of upwardly mobile urban middleclass, with which he has experienced such a love hate relationship. It was elated when he deposed Nawaz Sharif and was swearing against him … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, lawyers movement
A Tale of Two Classes
This article was originally published in Dawn. It makes a very interesting read and makes some extremely incisive points. By Muhammad Waseem In Pakistan, two dominant classes compete with each other for influence and privilege. One is the middle class, which provides the catchment area for the civil bureaucracy, technocrats, the military’s officer cadre and the business community. The other can be called, for lack of a better term, the political class that includes political entrepreneurs of various kinds at various levels, led by the landed and tribal elite. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Civil Service, Democracy, Identity, Religion, Society
Future of a crisis
Raza Rumi Pakistan’s devastating floods have opened up a Pandora’s Box of governance dysfunctions and historical distortions that have plagued the polity since independence. It remains to be seen what will be the outcome of the greatest calamity in our recent history. Various estimates show that the floods have affected 18-20 million people. The death toll has crossed the figure of 2000 while 2 million houses have been damaged or destroyed. Floodwaters are receding in many areas, and though there are concerns about standing water that remains in Punjab and other areas, the worst of the current flooding is taking place in Sindh. The disaster is still not over but the fissures within Pakistan have started to erupt and once again proving how vulnerable the state is and how fractured the Pakistani … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy
The Zardari Pinata
D. Asghar’s latest post for PTH: Lately in many discussions, about various events which have unfolded in Pakistan, it appears that Pakistanis in or outside Pakistan, find only one person responsible, its President Asif Ali Zardari. To clarify, I reside in the US, have no affiliation with him or PPP. As a teenager, when I was in Pakistan, I admired ZAB, but according to my analysis, the ideals of PPP died along with ZAB on the ill fated day of, April 04, 1979. Even late BB, failed to impress me as she made some huge blunders, and used ZAB’s name to advance her political career. There is no denying of this fact, that till this day PPP, uses ZAB and now BB as well to tap into the vote banks. It is the sheer charisma of ZAB, … Read entire article »
Religious Right in Their Own Words; Apostasy Punishment, Jihad and the Role of Non Muslims in the Land of Infidels
Part 3 By Adnan Syed This series revisits one of the pivotal events of the early Pakistani history; the riots by the religious right wing parties to get Ahmadis declared as non-Muslims, and the subsequent Munir-Kiyani inquiry commission report into the causes behind the riots. The report went on to interview the religious leaders of the newly formed state of Pakistan regarding their motives and their ideas of Pakistan as a pure Islamic state. As the interviews revealed the incongruous replies of various leaders, they also showed vague but chilling ideas that the right wing parties harboured to turn the newly formed Muslim nation into a politically Islam dominated theocratic nation. The interviews reveal the role of democracy, non Muslims, Jihad and punishments like apostasy that would be practiced in an ideal … Read entire article »
Filed under: Constitution, Democracy, History, Identity, India, Islam, Jinnah, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Religion
Religious Right in Their Own Words; the Concept of an Islamic State
Part 1 By Adnan Syed This two part series revisits one of the pivotal events of the early Pakistani history; the riots by the religious right wing parties to get Ahmadis declared as non-Muslims, and the subsequent Munir-Kiyani inquiry commission report into the causes behind the riots. The report went on to interview the religious leaders of the newly formed state of Pakistan regarding their motives and their ideas of Pakistan as a pure Islamic state. As the interviews revealed the incongruous replies of various leaders, they also showed vague but chilling ideas that the right wing parties harboured to turn the newly formed Muslim nation into a political- Islam-dominated theocratic nation. The interviews reveal the role of democracy, non Muslims, Jihad and punishments like apostasy that would be practiced in an ideal … Read entire article »
Filed under: Constitution, Democracy, Islam, Islamism, Jinnah, Judiciary, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Religion
Denialistan: DAWN's romance with jihadis exposed
Nasima Zehra Awan laments the media romances with sectarian Islamists while the country drowns The August 21st editorial by DAWN is a good example of what is wrong with the media in Pakistan. “Hardliners and Flood Relief” is precisely the kind of vacillating apologia for extremists that is the bane of the local media.A media that has anointed itself as “Independent” for hounding out elected politicians at the behest of a powerful establishment, has failed in informing the public about the various Islamist militant groups and their agendas. In this regard, it is baffling that DAWN’s editorial prefers to maintain an Ostrich-like approach to the exponentially growing existential threat from these sectarian bigots. President Zardari is absolutely correct in pointing out this threat. The exclusive bashing of elected PPP leaders is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Democracy, Islamism, Jinnah, minorities, Taliban, Terrorism, violence
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