Perils of Arundhati Roy Style Liberalism
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 … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Imperialism, India, Marxism, Taliban
Thumbs Down Part I
I was in the United States for one month on an exchange program for youth leaders from Pakistan. Apart from innumerable things that I liked while I was there, some aspects of American life did not appeal to me as much as the rest of them. Following are some of those snippets of Daily American Life that I noticed and was not too pleased about. Extravagance United States, unlike Pakistan, has abundance of many things, including food … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogroll, Citizens, culture, Economy, Education, History, Imperialism, Multinational Corporations, USA
The Rise and Fall of the Maoist Movement in Pakistan
We are publishing this insightful paper authored by Ishtiaq Ahmed. This paper was written as part of a theme ‘More than Maoism: Rural Dislocation in South Asia’ under the aegis of ISAS, National University of Singapore. In many ways, documentation of the Left movements is an important area that has not been researched and documented. This is why Dr Ahmed’s contribution is so important. Raza Rumi Abstract During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Maoist ideas gained considerable popularity and influence in left politics and the labour movement, and made an impact on Pakistani mainstream politics, which was out of proportion to the Maoists’ political strength in the overall balance of power. Neither class structure nor the ideological and political composition of the state apparatus warranted any such advantage to Maoism. Clues … Read entire article »
Filed under: Imperialism, movements, Pakistan, Politics, poverty, south asia, violence
Soviet Lessons from Afghanistan
By MIKHAIL GORBACHEV Published: February 4, 2010 Cross Post from The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/opinion/05iht-edgorbachev.html?pagewanted=1 Afghanistan is in turmoil, with tensions rising and people dying every day. Many of them — including women, children and the elderly — have nothing in common with terrorists or militants. The government is losing control of its territory: of the 34 provinces, the Taliban controls a dozen. The production and export of narcotics is growing. There is a real danger of destabilization extending to neighboring countries, including the republics of Central Asia as well as Pakistan. What began after Sept. 11, 2001, as a seemingly appropriate military response aimed at rooting out terrorism could end in a major strategic failure. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Imperialism, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, USA
Robert Gates' Visit to Pakistan
By Bilal Qureshi During his Pakistan visit, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote an article for an English daily in which he basically stressed the need to work together. On the other hand, while in India, Mr. Gates implied that had India not acted sensibly (I am paraphrasing) after the Mumbai attacked, there was a real chance of war breaking out between Pakistan and India. Now, from my reading, Mr. Gates is giving the impression that terrorists responsible for Mumbai were somehow linked to either Pakistan, or some branches of governments in Pakistan. And second, it is India who is acting maturely; otherwise, India would have been right to attack Pakistan to seek revenge. Obviously, everyone in Pakistan strongly disagrees with Mr. Gates. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Imperialism, India, Pakistan, USA
Pakistan And US – A Balancing Act
By Yasser Latif Hamdani There are some fundamental truths that both Pakistanis and Americans need to understand about our mutual relationship especially in Afghanistan : 1. Pakistan and US are natural allies. I know the fashionable in India and the US like to talk of a “natural alliance” between their two countries but both India and the US must realize that theirs can be at best a mercantile relationship. Natural alliances are not necessarily based on hollow idealism and grandiose but ridiculous propositions like the “arcs of democracy”. If this was true, Pakistan and Russia would be natural allies but they are not. Natural alliances are based on convergence of geo-strategic objectives and in the case of Pakistan the long term interests of Pakistan and US will always coincide in this region. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Great game, Imperialism, Pakistan, strategy, USA, World
From Russia with Love: Main Ney Russia Mee kya Dekha
Bradistan Calling When Pakistan came into existence in 1947, Russia was known as the Godless Empire of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics under brutal dictator Joseph Stalin. This inherent difference in ideologies resulted in tensions from the very start, but the refusal of the first prime minister of Pakistan to accept the cordial invitation of the Soviet leadership to visit USSR started the full scale Cold War. The rest, as they say, is history. Pakistan decided to accept the invitation of United States of America (the head of ‘Free’ Capitalist and Godly world).Pakistan joined anti-communist military pacts and gave its logistic support for Korean War in 1950s.Despite the unwavering loyalty of Pakistani military and landlord elite, USA refused to provide military assistance and spare parts during 1965 Kashmir war with India. The … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, baluchistan, Citizens, culture, Economy, Education, Europe, FATA, History, human rights, Identity, Imperialism, India, Islam, journalism, Labour, Left, magazines, Media, minorities, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Peshawar, Politics, Punjabi, quetta, Religion, Sindh, south asia, Taliban, Terrorism, Urdu, USA, youth, Zardari
The 30th Sandinista anniversary and the San José proposal
By Fidel Castro THE Honduran coup d’état promoted by the ultra-right wing of the United States – which was maintaining the structure created by Bush in Central America – and supported by the Department of State, was not developing well due to the energetic resistance of the people. The criminal adventure, unanimously condemned by world opinion and international agencies, could not be sustained. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Colonialism, Imperialism, Left, USA
Marx Shrugged: The Exploitative Chapter
For an overwhelming majority of us exploitation is a notion that doesn’t require any explanation. Most of us are in a continuous process of either exploiting or being exploited for the duration of our lives. Some of us exploit natural resources and the environment by doing anything careless from cutting down forests to littering the local pavement with candy wrappers. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Colonialism, Economy, human rights, Imperialism, Labour, Left, poverty
Ahmadinejad Won! Live with it.
http://www.politico.com/news/ stories/0609/23745.html By: Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett Without any evidence, many U.S. politicians and “Iran experts” have dismissed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection Friday, with 62.6 percent of the vote, as fraud. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Imperialism, Iran
ICH BIN EIN TAMIL AND PASHTUN
We are all Tamil and Pashtun today: BRADISTAN CALLING Ich bin ein Tamil and Pustun. We are all Tamil and Pashtun today, back in 1960s American President J.F Kennedy chanted for the freedom of Berliners. We should show our humanitarian solidarity with the civilian victims of terrorism in Tamil and Pashtun areas. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Benazir Bhutto, Citizens, Colonialism, culture, Democracy, dynasties, Economy, Europe, FATA, History, human rights, Identity, Imperialism, India, Islam, Islamabad, Jinnah, journalism, Kashmir, land, Languages, Left, minorities, movements, North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, Parliament, Partition, Peshawar, Politics, poverty, Punjabi, quetta, Religion, Rights, south asia, Sufism, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, violence, war, Women, youth
Obituary:Kashmir Broadcasting Corporation
Stop Press: Kashmir Broadcasting Corporation suddenly suspended its satellite transmissions globally after one year of success broadcasting.This incident is most unfortunate and shows a lack of financial backing for independent TV in a climate of global recession.There was no official confirmation of this interruption. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, culture, Democracy, drama, Education, Elections, Europe, History, human rights, Identity, Images, Imperialism, India, Islam, journalism, Justice, Kashmir, land, Languages, Left, Media, minorities, movements, Multinational Corporations, Music, Northern Areas, Pakistan, Partition, Philosophy, Politics, poverty, Punjabi, Religion, Reviews, Rights, Rural, Society, south asia, Taliban, Terrorism, Theatre, Travel, Urdu, video, violence, war, Women, Writers, youth
VIVA LA BRADISTAN MELA
THIS IS BRADISTAN (courtesy Daily Times - this article was first published.Sir Cam was the Guest columnist for Bradistan from Mela 2003.Dil Nawaz’s comments and updates for2008 will appear within brackets 2009 Mela will be held on weekend of 13th and 14th of June 2009) Here in was a mighty fusion of cultures: Eastern, Western, English, Pakistani, Indian, African, Arab and others — a potpourri of sounds, smells, and sights … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arts and Crafts, Cinema, Citizens, culture, Dance, drama, Europe, Heritage, History, Humor, Identity, Images, Imperialism, India, Islam, Languages, Literature, Media, minorities, Pakistan, Photos, poetry, Politics, Punjabi, Reviews, Society, south asia, Sufism, Theatre, Travel, video, youth
Miri or Piri.Reclaiming Punjabi Identity
The Miri(Warrior) or the Piri(Saint), Reclaiming the Punjabi Identity: Bradistan Calling The Sikh religion is based on three important pillar The Guru (Teacher), The Garanth(Holy Book) and the Khalsa (Brotherhood of the Pure).It all seems so familiar because of similarity with the religion of Islam. Nowadays one cannot objectively analyse Islam, without provoking Fatwa of One kind or the other. The debate, discussion and Ijtehad (innovation and development) have effectively been killed in the Muslim world. If you make Peaceful Reformation Impossible, you make Bloody Revolution Inevitable. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Citizens, Colonialism, culture, Democracy, Economy, Education, Elections, Europe, Heritage, History, human rights, Identity, Imperialism, India, Islam, Islamism, Jinnah, Justice, Kashmir, Languages, Left, Media, minorities, movements, Pakistan, Politics, poverty, Punjabi, Religion, Rights, Rural, Society, south asia, Sufism, Taliban, Terrorism, Urdu, USA, violence, Women, youth
Remembering Ojhri Camp 1988
Mass murder in Rawalpind and Islamabad By Tariq Mehmood First Published in Bradistan Calling 21 years ago, on the 10th April 1988 Ojhrii dump in Rawalpindi was blown up. This was a deliberate act of destruction. Hundreds upon hundreds of missiles rained down on Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Over 5000 people were killed. Many, many thousands more were injured. I was working as a journalist for the Frontier Post and along with a colleague, Imran Munir, went into the camp, early the day after the explosion. Every now and again, a rocket or missile would take off, and land somewhere, causing yet more deaths and destruction. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Benazir Bhutto, Citizens, Colonialism, Europe, FATA, History, human rights, Imperialism, India, Iran, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, journalism, Justice, Kashmir, Labour, Left, Media, minorities, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan, Politics, poverty, Punjabi, Religion, Rights, Society, south asia, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, violence, war, World
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