Meltdown in Tunisia and Its Relevance to Pakistan
By Adnan Bashir A twenty six years old young computer science graduate roams about in hunt of employment. There are no job openings and the inflation is sky rocketing. The young man is forced to sell fruits and vegetables in the streets to make his both ends meet. He doesn’t have the licence and one fine day the police intervenes and confiscates his cart. The young man is incensed and sets himself on fire. Sounds familiar? This is not Pakistan. But this may well be Pakistan……! There are obvious parallels to be drawn from the circumstances leading to revolt in Tunisia. Corruption, nepotism and unemployment were rampant. The society was said to be virtually divided in two classes. First, the elites and a closely knitted network and clan of top brass comprising relatives of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Citizens, Colonialism, Constitution, Democracy, dynasties, Economy, human rights, Law, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Politics, poverty, Rights, Uncategorized
The Giant in the East – III
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) Bottom line: It Mostly Comes Down to the Economy Arguably, in recent memory, the United States came dangerously close to losing its mantle as a modern economic and military power on September 15, 2008. That was the day when famed Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. As the financial markets opened the next day, the economic engine of the United States quickly started stalling. Banks balance sheets were severely compromised as their assets were falling … Read entire article »
Filed under: China, Economy, India, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, poverty, south asia, state, Uncategorized, USA
Floods and the Existential Threat
By Adnan Syed The existential threat comes from disowning the democratic structure, giving up on it and looking yet again for another instant messiah in face of tremendous adversity and hopelessness. We were wrong in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1990s when the elected governments were overthrown. And if we continue with our mindless obsession with artificial stability, we would be wrong in 2010 yet again. (AZW) … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, baluchistan, Constitution, Democracy, Judiciary, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Politics, poverty, public policy, Rights
Poem:The Hungry Face
” This poem was written to highlight the plight of children, far removed from education and comforts of home and confined to dreaded routines of existence” – The Daughter of Pakistan, in search for bread and water…….the quest continues and so her questions…. As she rests her soul against the pole The blistered feet and in tattered clothes The only place, where she can breathe The open fields and the crowded streets In search for bread and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Children, Education, Labour, Pakistan, poetry, poverty, psychology, Rights
Owner of Hyderabad’s iconic bakery dies
… yet continues to help many live [Dawn Online] HYDERABAD, June 11: Man is mortal but legend stays. It can truly be said for late Kumar of Hyderabad’s Bombay Bakery, as its cuisine left an everlasting flavour on the taste buds of those lucky, who had the opportunity to relish these. Kumar Thandani enjoyed seventy and two winters and met his creator on Friday in a Karachi hospital. A bachelor throughout, he left behind a sister and two … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Heritage, Pakistan, poverty, Sindh, Society
Pakistan’s budget: Policy sans public
Raza Rumi Last week, a former Minister while referring to the budgeting process remarked how the budget documents were accessible to only 3% of the parliamentarians. A lady MNA whom I met after the budget speech was ploughing through the shabbily printed pink documents, looking for the allocations for regulatory bodies and both of us could not find the relevant figures. This should be enough to describe the inaccessibility and obfuscated nature of the budgeting process in Pakistan and several other developing countries. Executive board-room syndrome: Lack of public consultation in the budgetary processes is another hallmark of how the executive formulates the national priorities and finances them. Our state considers the people as ‘beneficiaries’ and ‘recipients’ of the wise decisions made in air-conditioned secretariats and donor board-rooms. This is why the … Read entire article »
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
THE GREAT RECESSION, THE EUROPEAN FISCAL CRISIS AND LESSONS FOR PAKISTAN. Part 3: The European Debt Crisis
The Exploding Debt in Europe By Kashan Wali, exclusive to the PTH Wealth cannot be artificially created Finance in a real world relies on underlying wealth of a society. Governments cannot create wealth by printing money. Print too much money and it will lose its value. A fall in the value of money leads to inflation. Inflation viciously attacks the value of savings of the population. As population loses the stored wealth, the population becomes dependent on the state. State has to pay more now for healthcare, education and in extreme situation, food and shelter for population that is going poorer by the day. Either way, unless the underlying wealth (net output of goods and services produced) does not increase, a country cannot become wealthier. Let’s say state tries to pull another trick here; … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Economy, Europe, New Writers, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, poverty, public policy, state, USA
Pakistan, the Lost Generation
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/pakistan901/video_index.html It’s morning in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s biggest province, and the country’s next generation is headed to school. But what children are finding when they get there is of increasing concern for those who want peace in Pakistan’s future. For 12-year-old Fatma, school is an abandoned brickyard. “I study at the Government Primary School in Lahore,” she explains. “I study English language, and I like it. There are no chairs. We have to sit on the ground. It’s a problem in the winter. When it rains, there is nowhere to sit.” … Read entire article »
Filed under: Economy, Education, Lahore, Pakistan, poverty, Punjab, Religion, Rural, Taliban, USA, youth
Frustrated Strivers in Pakistan Turn to Jihad
By Sabrina Tavernise and Waqar Gillani Published: February 27, 2010 Cross Post from The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/world/asia/28youth.html?hp LAHORE, Pakistan — Umar Kundi was his parents’ pride, an ambitious young man from a small town who made it to medical school in the big city. It seemed like a story of working-class success, living proof in this unequal society that a telephone operator’s son could become a doctor. Lahore has enduring social problems like chronic unemployment. But things went wrong along the way. On campus Mr. Kundi fell in with a hard-line Islamic group. His degree did not get him a job, and he drifted in the urban crush of young people looking for work. His early radicalization helped channel his ambitions in a grander, more sinister way. Instead of healing the sick, Mr. Kundi went on … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Army, Economy, FATA, Islamabad, Lahore, Pakistan, poverty, psychology, Taliban, Terrorism, USA
PAKISTAN: Constant violence against women in 2009
An Article by the Asian Human Rights Commission Physical and sexual violence, honor killings, forced marriages and structural inequalities within the society are constant violations of women’s fundamental rights. The cases in this article were provided by Mister Mohammed Nafees from Karachi, based on news from Daily Dawn. By Julia Lemétayer 2009 has been another tragic year for women rights in Pakistan. Many cases have been reported, in which women were abducted, assaulted, raped, murdered, forced to marriage or traded to resolve disputes. According to Aurat Foundation, a non-governmental organization working for women empowerment in Pakistan, between January and June last year, a total of 4,514 incidents of violence against women were reported. Victims, if they dare reporting these facts, have to face police obstruction and societal pressure. If some of these facts … Read entire article »
Filed under: human rights, Justice, Pakistan, poverty, Religion, Rights, Rural, Society, state, violence, Women
One and a half billion people just want peace
The News, January 01, 2010 The two nations have repeatedly gone to war in the past. Their governments continue sabre rattling and spewing bellicose rhetoric. But identical nationwide opinion surveys conducted by the Jang Group and the Times of India Group in India and Pakistan show that a majority of the billion and a half people of the sub-continent want to live as peaceful and friendly neighbours and share the same humane goals like any other civilised polity; economic prosperity for all, education for the youth, health for the needy, absence of violence and elimination of existential threats. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, India, Kashmir, Pakistan, poverty, south asia, Terrorism
NRO- The monster finally caged!
The monstrous crimes committed, to fabricate illogical laws and illegal ordinances, created by these criminals to protect their own self and others who participated in those practises to ruin Pakistan has now finally taken place with Supreme Court’s verdict on 16th December. The looters, plunderers will have to face the consequences of their actions and face those trials which they avoided through any means available to them- through NRO, through political needs of survival in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Army, Citizens, Civil Service, Democracy, Economy, Education, human rights, Islamabad, Jinnah, journalism, Justice, lawyers movement, Media, movements, Multinational Corporations, Pakistan, Parliament, Politics, poverty, Zardari
Bare necessities
By Aroosa Masroor Dawn, 04 Dec, 2009 DADU: Mehak Essa is content that she can now concentrate on her studies. Until two months ago, she spent most of her time calculating the minutes that would be wasted in walking all the way to her relative’s house each time she wanted to use a toilet. But now that her school has a separate toilet for girls, she says her mind is ‘at peace.’ … Read entire article »
Filed under: Children, Education, Environment, Pakistan, poverty, Sindh, Women
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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