Chairman Press Council of India Justice Markandey Katju’s Hindutvist Akhand Bharat Theory : Right out of the RSS manual
By Yasser Latif Hamdani I have always had the greatest respect for the superior judiciary of India. This is why it is a painful to write this post especially as it is about a gentleman who was Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and later a Supreme Court Justice. His very accurate view on the tussle between the judiciary and the executive in Pakistan had made me a fan. Unfortunately though I have now realized that even some great men of law have their blind spots and as far blind spots go, this gentlemen has a huge black big blind spot spanning Afghanistan to Burma. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan
Soft states and hard power
By Saad Hafiz: Pakistan is categorised as a ‘soft’ state, exhibiting symptoms of an advanced level of administrative breakdown. Under these conditions the executive functions of the state, namely policing, taxation and general administration, are performed poorly or not at all. In spite of having clearly defined territorial boundaries including land, sea and airspace, soft states tend to lose full control of their territory and suffer regular infringements of sovereignty. A soft state may contain elements of ‘soft’ power such as an attractive culture, political values, and policies, which give it the ability to ‘seduce’ (as opposed to coerce) other parties. In contrast to being a soft state, Pakistan’s ranking as a ‘hard’ power is 13th of 193 countries based primarily on total population and military prowess. A country’s hard power is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Rebuttal to Yaqoob Khan Bangash’s Rejoinder on Jinnah’s Pakistan
By Yasser Latif Hamdani Mr Yaqoob Khan Bangash has written a rejoinder to my rebuttals both here and in Express Tribune. Once again Mr. Bangash has proved my point about him not having any historical facts to go by. I could not respond to it yesterday given some urgent professional commitments but I think it is time to place on record how Mr. Bangash distorts history with impunity. He also resorted to personal attacks which do not merit a response but should be referred to to show the desperation with which Mr. Bangash has responded to my rebuttals. First thing is first : Yaqoob Bangash has conceded 2 out of 3 points I had raised. The first being of the definition of Muslim which cannot be logically connected to a party that … Read entire article »
Bangladesh’s Independence Day
For an ordinary student of History, it is puzzling to know that Bangladesh does not celebrate its Independence day on the day that it seceded from Pakistan i.e. 16th December and instead on 25th March. This was the day when Operation Searchlight was started by Pakistan Army against its own citizens and Army’s proxies Al-Shams and Al-Badr played their own ugly part in it. Bengalis chose to commemorate the martyrs of Operation Searchlight and chose March 25th as the Independence … Read entire article »
Filed under: Anniversery, Army, Bangladesh, Elections, History, India, movements, Pakistan
Tale of Musharraf’s Coup in 1999
Parvez Musharraf, ex-Dictator, landed in Karachi today, amid much fanfare(and while wearing a suicide jacket). He was ousted democratically on 18th August, 2008 and left the country. Pakistan has successfully completed transition from an elected government to a caretaker setup without direct intervention of the Military for the first time in its history. This does not mean we forget the history of military interventions and the disastrous consequences. To commemorate the arrival of Musharraf, we … Read entire article »
Filed under: Anniversery, Army, Civil Service, Constitution, Democracy, drama, History, ISI, Islamabad, Pakistan, Politics, Society, state, Uncategorized
Article of the Day: Leave it to Allah
by Muhammad Shehzad [Excerpts] A new trend was noticeable in the recent sectarian attacks in the country. Earlier, the target was primarily the Asna Ashri Shias(followers of the 12 Imams). Now, however, the scope is widening. The Asna Ashris are a powerful community in Pakistan. Like their Deobandi rivals-whose proteges include the now defunct militant Sipah Sahaba Pakistan and the Lashkar e Jhangvi-the Asna Ashri have the Sipah Mohammad. In the late ‘90s and early 2000, the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, baluchistan, Citizens, History, human rights, Identity, Iran, ISI, Islam, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, minorities, Pakistan
Death of a Nation
by Hafsa Khawaja Holding on in the midst of political, social and economic storms, the Pakistan of today is an illustration of an almighty bedlam. Unsurprisingly, death and destruction have now eased into humdrum routinely occurrences for most people; Predictably throwing a cloak of desensitization over them; giving rise to chronic apathy. A common trend that has been nurtured in this environment is the juxtaposition of tragedies for comparisons to exhibit selectivity of people’s reactions and responses. To question … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, culture, drama, History, human rights, Identity, Opinion, Pakistan, Society, violence, war
Questioning national meta-narratives
By Saad Hafiz: The national meta-narratives include the ideological and moral foundation of the nation being formed, and they represent its ethos as well as the legitimacy of, and justification for, its establishment and existence. Furthermore, grand narratives are laid down and maintained by political structures that seek to subordinate physical and natural laws to any given ideology. The history of things is chiselled accordingly. Concepts and opinions are presented as facts. The sheer diversity of human experience is discarded in favour of one monolithic ideology. Organised religion, established folklore, national histories, social experiments and myth of progress via science all fall under the auspices of grand narratives. A meta-narrative is a super or grand-story; it is the holistic, hierarchical framework that embraces the national narratives and creates and feeds them, while … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Is Pakistan a failed state?
Prof. Farah A.Khan: After more than a decade I recently travelled on the Grand Trunk Road from Lahore to Gujranwala and on to Sialkot. My experience was mindboggling. Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot have become one city. Small Qasbas like Muridke and Kamokee are now boomtowns merged with the cities of Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot. The GT Road is lined with factories, high-rise buildings, schools, colleges, madrassas, banks, marriage halls, shops etc. All the shops in Lahore are represented in the new ‘cities’ along the road. Roads leading out of Lahore to towns like Sheikupura and others have suffered the same fate. This huge development of construction and businesses is rather perplexing. Pakistan is suffering from more than 14 hours of electricity and gas load shedding. Rupee is losing its value and inflation … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
Attack on Christians: The Real Tragedy is Even More Horrifying
Raza Habib Raja What happened in Lahore yesterday has again put our heads to shame. A Christian was accused of insulting Holy Prophet and soon after the mob attacked the Christian colony forcing its inhabitants to flee. Under pressure from the mob, Police had to file charges against the accused man. The communal violence is not new to Pakistan and for that matter South Asia as the history of this entire region is full of incidents. However, … Read entire article »
Filed under: minorities, Pakistan, Religion
Indians and Pakistanis
Abhinav Pandya This article is written by one of my close friends at Cornell. I am grateful to him for contributing for PTH. Raza Habib Raja I remember, back home, every morning my brother would bring me the newspaper which had something on ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) as the lead organization behind everything happening in India ranging from farmer suicides, corruption scandals, black money to terrorism. The next day, same newspaper would be stuffed with the statements of hardliners trying to espouse the escapist brand of patriotism in order to run away from the real issues (as it requires a lot of introspection which any fanatic breed is scared of) eventually breeding a generation of youth who thrives on these ideas of misinformed and imagined hatred. Being in … Read entire article »
Pakistanis Return Home
By Usman Ahmed: The Statistician Leading statistics have shown a startling rise in Pakistani migrants returning home. The most recent report, conducted by the Go Back To Your Own Blasted Country Alliance, estimated that at least one million migrants had returned to their country of origin. Experts believe that these changing patterns stem not from global recession, but because more and more Pakistanis are failing to adjust to life abroad. Maghfoor Jatoi went to the Netherlands in 2008 to ‘send lots of EURO’s back to my parents’. Now, however, he has decided to make his permanent home back in Pakistan. ‘Even though I was earning enough money for me and my family’, says Jatoi, ‘my employers expected me to come on time and actually do some work. There was also only one tea-break in the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
PAKISTAN EIK NAZUK MORH PAR KARHA HAY………
by Dr Tariq Khan: Sounds familiar? To me, very much so. I have heard nothing else but, as I grew up from a beardless boy in the 50’s and 60’s, to the present. This is what each set of corrupt and incompetent “rulers” , whether Military or Civilian, have been telling us by way of a soother, while they picked our pockets with increasing brazenness. And not too much finesse. We seem to have got stuck on this Nazuk Morh, while others have surged on. Our arch enemy India is now way up there rubbing shoulders with the elite nations of this planet. But even Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh et al have all long overtaken us, while we are languishing on the Nazuk Morh with our 1950’s mindset and narrow Military … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
BASHIR BILOUR SHAHEED – THE LATEST & LAST WAKE UP CALL
The Civil Society organizations, including Insani Huqooq Ittehad, and several other coalitions, NGOs, human rights activists, think tanks, researchers and academicians express our outrage, grief and sorrow at the assassination of Bashir Bilour Shaheed, in yet another targeted killing atrocity by the Taliban in Peshawar today. Pakistan has lost yet another brave fighter for progressive thought and ideology, who knew he was targeted and yet did not knuckle under or give up his political activities with his party, the ANP, or with the wider movements for rights-based education, peace and conflict resolution. His personal courage and fearless speech was exemplary, and admirable in the age of fear, expediency and compromise. We salute him and pay tribute to his courage – may his soul rest in peace. Civil Society demands that the Federal … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan
What Thomas Friedman has wrong on Egypt, Pakistan and India
By Yasser Latif Hamdani Thomas Friedman’s latest piece deserves to be read by every Pakistani, not because it is accurate- there are several glaring mistakes in it- but because it shows pretty much how the world views us- a basket case anti-people state. The important thing that must be underscored is that if the world views it like this it is entirely our own fault. We have made a horrible mess of things in Pakistan. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islam, Jinnah, Pakistan, south asia
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