Considering Slackistan
By Zia Ahmad Slacker: i: a person who shuns or avoids work or other obligations; ii: a person who avoids military service; iii: or an educated person who is antimaterialistic, purposeless, apathetic and usually works in a dead-end job. In 1991, the beginning of Richard Linklater’s seminal feature debut Slacker offered a clear denotation of its title. The film showcased all the variants on the meaning of the word inherently attached with the spirit of Generation X and subsequently … Read entire article »
Pakistan’s State of Nature
By AA Khalid The Hobbesian Narrative Hobbes is perhaps the most important political philosopher Pakistanis concerned about their country should be reading. Of course it will require a ‘’Desification’’ (or ‘’Pakistanization) of the man’s central work, ‘’The Leviathan’’. The Islamic tradition too has works of political philosophy, we think of Al Farabi, who applied the utopian understanding of Plato’s Republic (the rule of the Philosopher King) to the prophetic experience of the Prophet of Islam as a pre-eminent example. Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Bajja were more realistic if not pessimistic about politics than Farabi’s enthusiastic application of political Platonism. In fact Tufayl and Bajja seek to return to another strand of the Platonic tradition which is more pessimistic and realistic. For Plato knowledge was power and that is why the Philosopher the … Read entire article »
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
Getting Islam “Burbaad” In Islamabad
By D. Asghar So barely two months and we have another brave human being murdered in the name of hyper religiousity. Shaheed Shahbaz Bhatti, may your soul rest in eternal peace and the scum bags who killed you, get to face you on the Final Day. Amen. … Read entire article »
An Angry but Patriotic Retort
By Adnan Syed This post is meant as an “honorable” and “patriotic” reply to all the liberal bloggers and PTH-likes who cast doubt on popular nationalist narratives, and point out the nationalistic ideology steeped in hatred and revulsion against foreign powers as self defeating. The post had its genesis in Raza Raja’s article titled “The Misplaced Hatred and Our Rational Self Interest”[i], but is also applicable to all articles calling for restraining our patriotic fervor when it comes to drones, Blackwater, and now Raymond Davis. (AZW) Hold on right there you so called liberal Pakistani bloggers: Are you suggesting here is that Pakistan is in a mess here because of America? Do you not think it was Americans, not us who were pursuing the ideas of strategic depth by backing every rabid extremist like … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Economy, Egalitarian Pakistan, FATA, Identity, India, Islam, Islamabad, North-West Frontier Province, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Politics, state, USA
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
What Constitutes a Stable Society?
By Adnan Syed Pakistan is passing through a vicious negative feedback loop that is beginning to gather momentum. The vicious circle is a result of country’s inability to provide for the basic individual rights of its citizens. Combine that with a burgeoning population, and the rampant nationalist tensions within the society that have been suppressed in the name of religious identity, Pakistan is staring at a nightmarish scenario in the coming decade. Pakistan needs to realize that the existential threat is coming from the failure of its society and not due to the external influences that consume majority of the resources of our nation. Unless we start spending on providing for the four basic rights to our citizens, the chaos will just feed on itself in the years to come. This is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, human rights, Identity, India, Islamabad, Islamism, musings, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Religion, Rights, violence
A Vicious Circle
By Adnan Syed Pakistan is passing through a vicious negative feedback loop that is beginning to gather momentum. The vicious circle is a result of country’s inability to provide for the basic individual rights of its citizens. Combine that with a burgeoning population, and the rampant nationalist tensions within the society that have been suppressed in the name of religious identity, Pakistan is staring at a nightmarish scenario in the coming decade. Pakistan needs to realize that the existential threat is coming from the failure of its society and not due to the external influences that consume majority of the resources of our nation. Unless we start spending on providing for the four basic rights to our citizens, the chaos will just feed on itself in the years to come. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, Constitution, human rights, Identity, Islam, Islamabad, musings, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Rights, state
Good luck, General Kayani
Raza Rumi http://tribune.com.pk/story/30713/good-luck-general-kayani/ In a hurried non-speech, the prime minister has confirmed that the incumbent army chief will stay on for three years. Unprecedented as the decision might be, it is perhaps the best option under the current circumstances. Pakistan is battling against domestic and external terrorism. Given how the army works, it is clear that the military establishment wants a continuation of national security policy. Lack of policy continuity has been the hallmark of Pakistan’s governance. At least with General Kayani’s extension, the military operations in the northwest and approach to the Afghanistan imbroglio will also remain unchanged. This is good for Pakistan for three reasons. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Islamabad, Islamism, Pakistan, Politics, public policy, secular Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, violence, war
Water Dispute Increases India-Pakistan Tension
The article from today’s New York Times highlights the water problem that will increasingly take center stage as populations in Pakistan and India grow in the coming years. For the first sixty years, we have lived under the shadow of the Kashmir dispute which to this day is unresolved. Hopefully water problem will not grow into another problem between the two nations over the next few decades. … Read entire article »
Daily Times: Nationalism: inclusive versus exclusive — III
Cross Post from Daily Times Published July 13, 2010 By Ishtiaq Ahmed Rather than hate India, we should learn from India. It has five times a greater population, far greater ethnic and linguistic variation and myriads of religious faiths and cults. It is not a democracy in the social sense but it is a sophisticated democracy in the political sense I have presented, mainly, the exclusive model of nationalism and state-nationalism that I have argued emerged in Pakistan, notwithstanding the very bold attempt of Jinnah to supplant it with inclusive nationalism. Exclusive nationalism — whether based on race or religion or some other cultural factor — discriminates, constitutionally, people who do not qualify as members of the community because they do not share the specific cultural ties that have been chosen to define the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Identity, India, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, Jinnah, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Pakistan, Religion, secular Pakistan
Daily Times – Nationalism: inclusive versus exclusive — I
At PTH, we have argued for the partition as a nuanced set of events that were characterized by extreme mistrust between the two major political forces of that time. These major parties harboured deep distrust against each other. The Muslim League politics increasingly focused on the idea of Pakistan as a bargaining chip to win the rights for the sizeable Muslim majority within the United India. The British hurry to leave the United India, emergence of Muslim League as the sole spokesman for the Muslims, and Congress unwillingness to recognize the Muslim nation demands within the United India resulted in a bloody and messy partition. We still live with the scars of the partition that resulted in one of the largest uprooting and human migration of modern times. … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Democracy, Egalitarian Pakistan, History, Identity, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, Jinnah, minorities, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Religion, secular Pakistan
Daily Dawn: Failure of dictatorship and democracy
Cross Post from Daily Dawn By Niaz Murtaza Friday, 09 Jul, 2010 http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/failure-of-dictatorship-democracy-970 HOW would you feel if you lived in a poor neighbourhood and your neighbours started getting rich while you became poorer? Angry, envious, depressed, suspicious? Pakistanis have experienced these emotions collectively as East Asia and the Middle East developed. Now even countries down the road in South Asia are developing. Dubai and Korea are already rich, India is moving and, to add insult to injury, unconfirmed rumor has it that even Bangladesh is on to something since the familial break-up. Thank God for Afghanistan and Nepal! We can still walk around in the neighbourhood with some semblance of self-respect. Perceptively concluding that our failure has something to do with governance, we tried both dictatorship and democracy, but neither worked. This calls for an … Read entire article »
Saving the Capital
Raza Rumi The recent decision of the Supreme Court to order closure of a multinational food chain restaurant in Islamabad is path-breaking It has become a cliché to praise the Supreme Court of Pakistan these days. Clichéd, because many partisan agendas find resonance within the all-embracing spectrum of judicial activism. Those who have been critical of judges turning into activists must rethink their misgivings. While the dangers of such blanket approval of the workings of a state … Read entire article »
Filed under: Islamabad, Nature, Pakistan, public policy, Rights
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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