A letter to the youth of Pakistan
Usama Khilji, a young activist from Islamabad addresses his contemporaries in Pakistan Dear Young Pakistani! I understand how these times are testing of your patriotism, but let me tell you how these times are actually a golden opportunity for you to prove your worth, your love for the country, and desire for a better future. You must have been hearing a lot about how Pakistani society has degenerated into moral chaos, how we as a nation are worthless ‘cockroaches’, and how we as a nation are deserving of calamities such as the catastrophic flood. These are all baseless generalizations that you as the youth should take up as challenges, and rather than accepting such fatalism, prove them wrong instead. For those of you who were disheartened by the beating to death of two brothers … Read entire article »
Saving a drowning country needs an ideological shift
Nasima Zehra Awan’s passionate post for the Pak Tea House “You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques……..Religion is not the business of the State”. Thus spoke Jinnah, whilst addressing the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947. Sixty three years later, this is what our honorable Chief Justice has to say: “Parliament with Unlimited Powers can secularize state” (Source: DAWN,Monday August 16, 2010) Won’t that be a good thing, judge saheb! At a time when our country is intellectually and morally bankrupt because of its moorings as a national security state built on the toxic teachings of Maududi, isn’t secularism the way to get out of this mess. Instead of spending tens of billions to support a failed national security state, “a fortress of Islam” if you will, wouldn’t … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism
REFLECTIONS POST-MAY 28
An exclusive post by Aamenah Yusafzai for PTH The recent attacks on two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore demonstrate the urgent need to strengthen the rights of Pakistani minorities. Pakistan is not a country inhabited by Muslims only, or even Sunni Muslims. This is represented by the green and white of the Pakistani flag, a fact often taken for granted. The three quarter green represents the majority Muslim population, while the one quarter white represents non-Muslim minorities. The preamble to the Constitution provides that provisions be made for “minorities freely to profess and practice their religion and develop their cultures.” Furthermore, it provides for guarantees to “fundamental rights, including equality of status, of opportunity and before law, social, economic and political justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism
World Cup Brings Justice for Apartheid League in Former Prison
As the soccer world cup heats up in South Africa, it is worth remembering that the present day South Africa is largely a result of the sacrifices of courageous men and women who stood up against apartheid in their native land. These people spent best years of their lives locked away for the crime of speaking for equal treatment for all of South Africans. These brave souls are a model for not just the South Africans, but for all humans everywhere on this globe. As the saying goes, sacrifices of one generation make way for better lives of the next generation. Below, we reproduce a small yet powerful story about the political prisoners in South Africa, who formed their own football federation behind the prison walls. As they bask in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Colonialism
The Second Amendment
By Yasser Latif Hamdani Published in Daily Times, May 31 2010 The Second Amendment laid the foundations of intolerance and religious tyranny in Pakistan, which has manifested itself in other ways. Since then our state has been in a downward spiral The violence against the Ahmediyya community underscores the bigotry that has become the hallmark of our beloved homeland. A community — already sacrificed at the altar of political expediency — has now been made to pay the ultimate price. Amongst the dead, which included retired army officers and other contributors to Pakistani society, was reportedly the youngest brother of Chaudhry Zafarullah Khan. For those who are unaware of who Chaudhry Zafarullah was, he was the author of the Lahore Resolution, Pakistan’s first foreign minister and Pakistan’s advocate before the Boundary Commission. In other … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Democracy, human rights, Identity, Islam, Islamism, minorities, Pak Tea House, Religion, Rights, Taliban, Terrorism, violence
Pakistan – living in denial?
Bilal Qureshi It is never easy to write about Pakistan because there is never anything good, positive or even encouraging to discuss. It is always a bomb attack, which now has turned into a horrific Bombay style shoot out as we witnessed in Lahore, or a terrorist or terrorists trying to blow up something in the world connected to a training camp in Pakistan. Then, there are protests in the country against power shortage, lack of food commodities (think flour, sugar etc). To top all this, we see agitation and processions against America, facebook and Youtube (and Israel and India) where people are raging and shouting angry slogans. I can go and on, but you get my point. Now, if this is the backdrop, how anyone can write glowingly about a peaceful … Read entire article »
Facebook and Pakistan
A young activist and social scientist Usama Khilji has sent this contribution for PTH. The Facebook event ‘Draw Muhammad Day’ indeed came as an offensive shock not only to Muslims around the world; but to all those who believe in tolerance and respect of others’ beliefs. Islamic tradition disallows the representation of the Prophet Muhammad in any state, but a special event to draw caricatures of a revered and respected religious figure is tantamount to hate speech, and was most certainly bound to provoke a strong reaction across the globe, especially from followers of Islam. In Pakistan, the courts reacted by blocking access to Facebook on May 19, and to YouTube on May 20, owing to the presence of blasphemous material on these mass sharing and communication portals. However, it is … Read entire article »
Proving their faith (or the lack of it)…
Amaar Ahmad has sent this exclusive post for PTH. We are publishing it to enrich the debate on the recent events and the larger issue of Islamism in Pakistan. Raza Rumi The attacks on Ahmadi mosques in Lahore is another reminder of where the exploitation of religion for personal or political goals ultimately leads to. Bhutto and Zia are are the original architects of popularizing among Pakistani politicians, generals and intelligentsia the trend to pretentiously drag religion everywhere and to demonstrate their Islamic credentials. Pandering to fanatics and bigots, they have displayed their allegiance to the faith by imposing laws against Ahmadis and by sitting idly as the flames of hatred slowly engulfed the whole country. The elite class has ever since appeased parties like Jamaat-i-Islami and Jamiat-i-ulema-i-Islam which were historically opposed to the creation of Pakistan and whose teachings have ultimately created … Read entire article »
Mission Accomplished?
We are posting this email by Sehar Tauqeer in the interest of free speech. PTH does not necessarily agree with the contents. (Admn) 1. Do you remember the most charismatic Islamic and Spiritual Scholar of the Universe with latest Wardrobe fashions and latest Beard Style come on GEO to tell us how to be True Muslim in his Cosmetic Way that in his 7th September 2008 Program of Jahil Online as may of Pakistanis used to say him incited openly to murder Ahmedis and t 1:15pm on September 8, just 18 hours after the broadcast, six persons entered the Fazle Umer Clinic, a two-story hospital at Mirpurkhas city and two of them went to the second floor and started pressuring 45 year-old Dr. Abdul Manan Siddiqui to come downstairs to attend … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Al Qaeda, minorities, Religion, Terrorism
ASIA: Wide-ranging restrictions on freedoms of expression must be addressed
This statement by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), shows that we are not the only one keen to curb freedom of expression (Raza Rumi) The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) wishes to highlight a number of restrictions to the freedom of expression ongoing in several countries in the Asian region. There are a number of situations in the region that are cause for concern with regard to this important right, affecting a range of countries with different levels of development, democracy and records concerning human rights. At one extreme, in Myanmar, the absence of opportunities for free speech is nullifying the prospect for any notion of free and fair elections. The media have been prohibited from analysing the new laws and rules for the planned elections, or from saying anything … Read entire article »
The Journey of a Pakistani Muslim
I was born into a Sunni Muslim family in a northern city in the UK. The city is home to a large Muslim minority from Pakistan. I come from an educated and broad minded family with middle of the road type of values. Religion was never really a huge issue but I did the usual cultural thing of learning how to read the Quran in Arabic till I was 10 years old. At around the age of 14, I became interested in Islam and joined the Young Muslims UK. This was my first real exposure to practical Islam. We would attend camps and have weekly meetings usually to discuss the Quran and the Hadith of Muhammad. For all intents and purposes everything was going well and my family was happy that … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Citizens, culture, Democracy, Egalitarian Pakistan, Europe, human rights, India, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamism, Pakistan, Philosophy, Religion, Rights, violence, war, Women, youth
PTH Exclusive: Interview with J. Jawwad Khawaja
Posted by Raza Rumi We are grateful to Babar Mirza who has translated an interview given by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja to Sohail Waraich in June 2007 which is recorded in Waraich’s book ‘Adlia ke Arooj-o-Zawaal ki Kahani’. The interview is a must read for all those who are interested in Pakistan’s politics and institutions. A biographical note is also available for those who wish to know more about the life and times of J. Khawaja. The latter resigned when J. Iftikhar Chauhdry was illegally deposed by the Musharraf regime. Later, he was part of the lawyers and judges movement and he was re-inducted into the Supreme Court after J. Chauhdry was restored as the Chief Justice in 2009. The interview also explains why Justice Khawaja took oath unde the 2000 PCO during the Musharraf regime. Just as in any other … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Judiciary, Justice, Law, lawyers movement, movements, Pakistan
The More Things Change…
…the more they remain the same The ISI – a proxy for the Army, since Z.A.Bhutto’s creation of ISI’s infamous Political Cell – seems to be making it clear that it (too) is beyond accountability. After Malik Qayyum tried to show he still had some nuisance value by declaring to Hamid Mir that ‘a former head of a powerful intelligence agency had confirmed to him that (the missing person) Mr Janjua was dead’, there were news items about the police (possibly) investigating a handful of former and serving intelligence and army officers in relation to missing persons. Mrs Amina Janjua promptly responded to the possible muddying of the intelligence agency’s name by writing to The News. She declares in this letter that she does not seek investigation against any ‘valuable’ national agency … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Al Qaeda, Army, baluchistan, Citizens, Democracy, human rights, journalism, Judiciary, Justice, Pakistan, Taliban, USA
ASR Institute must be saved at all costs
Raza Rumi ASR Institute of Women’s Studies, Lahore is not a run of the mill NGO or a donor-sponsored institution. Pakistan, not unlike other developing countries has enough of such makeshift, quick-fix research institutions that advance the Eurocentric and inappropriate agendas of those who want to liberate and enable the natives to come at par with the ‘civilized’ world. Since 1983, ASR has held its own – under dictatorships, quasi-democratic charades and amid the rise of Islamism. Not content with radical research and speaking the truth, in 1997 ASR went ahead and set up the first women’s studies institute in the non-state domain. This institute is open for South Asians and boasts a curriculum and faculty that would compete with any similar outfit in the international arena. In February 2010, ASR organized … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Education, Pakistan, Politics, public policy, Women
New Left or no Left?
Posted by Raza Rumi Haider Nizamani’s excellent piece published by Dawn on March 18, 2010, deserves spotlight at PTH. We hope that the readers would respond to it and a debate can be initiated on this critical issue. Unlike the rest of mainstream media, DAWN has attempted to give some space to the otherwise neglected debate. MR Muhammad Ali Siddiqi writing in the March 3 issue of Dawn (Pakistan’s New Left) has commented on the potential success … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Left, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, movements, Pakistan
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