Pak Tea House » Northern Areas
Our reaction to the floods
Raza Rumi Thousands are dead and injured and millions are displaced due to the floods. The national reaction to this calamitous situation has been that the president should have cancelled his visit to the UK. The president too has not been sagacious. But the debate is frivolous and sidetracks the real issue: our sheer lack of preparedness for natural disasters and emergency management. Five years ago, a massive-earthquake rocked Pakistan. Later, several institutions such as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) were set up to deal with natural calamities. While it would be unfair to critique the good work done by the NDMA, it is clear that centralised authorities and relief machinery are of little use in a populous, diverse country like Pakistan. In the last five years, as the recent floods indicate, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Environment, North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, Zardari
Pakistan, Faisal Shahzad and the Pakistani Taliban
Pakistan: Faisal Shahzad and the Pakistani Taliban Published on May 10, 2010 | 2338 GMT http://www.stratfor.com/?utm_source=General_Analysis&utm_campaign=none&utm_medium=email Summary U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said May 9 that the United States has evidence linking the Pakistani Taliban to Faisal Shahzad, the man who confessed to the failed bombing attempt at Times Square in New York City on May 1. Shahzad is a naturalized U.S. citizen who demonstrated a willingness to carry out an attack on U.S. soil. However, his status as a U.S. citizen would have been problematic for the Pakistani Taliban, who must remain wary of potential infiltration from U.S. intelligence. Furthermore, the attempted bombing showed little to no signs that Shahzad had help from an outside group. … Read entire article »
Filed under: FATA, Identity, North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, Peshawar, Religion, Taliban, Terrorism, USA
Pakistaniat : The Crisis of Identity
Bradistan Calling What can I give to Pakistan as a present on its 62nd Birthday, What else than an article on its chequered history and identity. Bertrand Russell famously said,” There are three great civilisations in East i.e. India, China and Islam”. Pakistan is blessed to be located at the crossroads of all these great civilisations. In my humble opinion this is the biggest strength of Pakistani identity. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, ancient civilisations, Architecture, baluchistan, Citizens, Cricket, culture, dynasties, Environment, Europe, FATA, Heritage, History, human rights, Identity, India, Iran, Islam, Jinnah, Karachi, Kashmir, Languages, Left, Literature, Media, minorities, Music, North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, Partition, Peshawar, Politics, Punjabi, quetta, Religion, Rights, Sindh, south asia, Sufism, Taliban, Terrorism, Travel, Urdu, USA, youth
Cantonment in Swat ?
by Ibrahim Khalil At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, let me quote a joke that was making the round couple of years ago. After a meeting between Manmohan Singh and Pervez Musharraf, an announcement is made that Kashmir issue has been resolved. At the press conference, Manmohan Singh says that “Pakistan has agreed to give up its claim of holding a plebiscite in Kashmir. General Musharraf will inform you of the rest of the details”. General Musharraf comes on the microphone and says, “We have fought three wars with India over Kashmir. … Read entire article »
Filed under: North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan
US proxy war continues in north-west Pakistan
By James Cogan The arrival of Obama administration special envoy Richard Holbrooke in Pakistan on Wednesday serves to underscore that the massive military operation taking place in the country’s north-west is a proxy war on behalf on US imperialism. As part of completing the transformation of Afghanistan into a client-state in Central Asia, Obama is demanding that the Pakistani government suppress the local Islamist movements that lend support to the Afghan resistance over the border. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, USA, war
Swat & Tourism
by Bilal Qureshi The army did wonders in Swat and proved that few militants, even if they are determined to die, but inflict tremendous harm to others are no match for a disciplined army, thank God. At this point, it seems obvious that the situation in Swat is getting better in terms of the defeat of the Taliban. The government seems in control and sooner or later, the residents are going to start coming back to their villages, homes and towns. And that is where the new problem begins! … Read entire article »
Filed under: Northern Areas, Pakistan, Travel
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
Military Retakes Largest Town in Swat Valle
By ROHAN SULLIVAN – ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban have fled the Pakistani army’s advance on the main town in the Swat Valley, delivering the military a strategic prize in its offensive against militants in the country’s northwest, commanders said Saturday. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said an unknown number of militant fighters were able to escape Mingora town despite the military having it surrounded, raising the prospect that they could return to the fight elsewhere. The military launched a major offensive about one month ago in the Swat Valley and neighboring areas to oust Taliban militants who had been extending their control over the northwestern region near the border with Afghanistan. … Read entire article »
Filed under: North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, war
Challenges in Swat after Military Operation
By Ibrahim Khalil The Defense Ministry is optimistic that Military will finish Swat operation in a few days. Let us hope and pray that it ends as predicted. However, contrary to what many people believe, end of military operation will not mark the end of the problem. If the reportedly successful Bajaur operation has taught us anything, it is that a new set of challenges will be waiting for us once the military declares the area fit for repatriation of IDPs. The government needs to have a plan in place to tackle these challenges otherwise any gains that army has achieved in its war with extremists will be lost in the battle for hearts of IDPs. … Read entire article »
Filed under: North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, Taliban
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
Casualty of War
By ARYN BAKER A few weeks ago a group of Pakistani journalists and foreign correspondents based in Pakistan gathered to meet visiting representatives of the Washington-based think tank Center for American Progress. Its members were “on a listening tour,” they said, and wanted to hear the journalists’ perspectives on the U.S. and Pakistan. The response was caustic. Correspondents and editors belonging to Pakistan’s top local print and TV outlets let loose with accusations and complaints, particularly about American concerns that Pakistan was failing as a state. “There is no Taliban threat,” said one Pakistani journalist. “Do you really think a bunch of hillbillies from the tribal areas can take on our military?” sneered another. “It’s all propaganda,” said a third, designed “to weaken us, so the U.S. can fulfill its agenda … Read entire article »
Filed under: Northern Areas, Pakistan, Taliban
Obama’s AfPak war engulfs Pakistan’s Swat Valley
By James Cogan A humanitarian catastrophe is taking place in areas of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP), as a result of the Obama administration’s expansion of the occupation of Afghanistan into the so-called “AfPak war”. Over the past seven years, ethnic Pashtun Islamist movements in NWFP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have lent assistance to the resistance being waged against the American-led forces in Afghanistan by the Pashtun-based Taliban, including by disrupting US and NATO supply routes through Pakistan. On Washington’s insistence, the Pakistani government of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered the military to embark on operations to crush the militants. In late April, Pakistani forces deployed into the Lower Dir and Buner districts of NWFP to drive out a small number who … Read entire article »
Filed under: North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, USA, war
U.S. stirs a hornet's nest in Pakistan
PARIS — Pakistan finally bowed to Washington’s angry demands last week by unleashing its military against rebellious Pashtun tribesmen of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) — collectively mislabelled “Taliban” in the West. The Obama administration had threatened to stop $2 billion US annual cash payments to bankrupt Pakistan’s political and military leadership and block $6.5 billion future aid, unless Islamabad sent its soldiers into Pakistan’s turbulent NWFP along the Afghan frontier. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism, USA
How Pakistan Failed Itself
By Aryn Baker / Islamabad In the Himalayan resort town of Nathiagali, a party is under way. Ice clinks in tumblers and corks pop while the conversation — an amalgam of English and Urdu that is the mark of Pakistan’s élite — flows from meditation techniques to a heated debate over a U.S. politician’s warning that Pakistan is on the brink of collapse. The hostess, Rifat Haye, 54, is one of two female pilots with the national airline and is celebrating her promotion to captain. She wears jeans. Her hair is streaked with blond, and a diamond nose stud glints in the sun, as does the jeweled Allah pendant around her neck. She is frustrated with the image the world has of Pakistan, that of a failing state overrun by Muslim fanatics. Pointing first to herself, then at her guests, she … Read entire article »
Filed under: North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, Taliban, Terrorism
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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