How Trolls are confounding the Shia Rights Discourse
by Abdul Majeed An article recently published in a notorious blog went on to criticize The Friday Times, Raza Rumi, Saleem Javed, Khaled Ahmad and Ali Chishti,because they dared to use the word “sectarian killings” instead of “Shia genocide” which is the term favored by the author of that post. The article also posited that there is a systemic genocide committed against Shias and that the #DeepState is somehow promoting it. The author did not specify exactly what benefit the #DeepState gets if they are actually complicit, when all it does is to actually compromise and damage its own writ and control. The article wanted us to believe that “Sectarian Violence/Genocide” is being “mis-represented” as a Proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The article mentioned the plight of the Hazara … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Army, baluchistan, Citizens, Democracy, Iran, Islam, Media, Pakistan, quetta, Religion, Society, Taliban, Uncategorized, USA
Disaster Porn and Pakistani media
by Ali Ahsan First of all, my apologies for using an ‘objectionable word’ in the title of my piece given how some 15 year old is already on a self-crusade to note down every single ‘vulgar’ website there is, and try to get the PTA to ban them all for ‘protecting our youth’. Never mind the mental masturbation, but an adult website is the last worry we should have in Pakistan when there are more vulgar and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, drama, Fiction, human rights, Identity, Islamabad, journalism, Media, Pakistan, Regulatory Affairs, Society
Fallacies that befuddle the ‘educated’ Pakistani mind
by Abdul Majeed Wise people always say, Do not try to present complex matters in black and white terms as it will defeat the purpose. To quote Paul Valery: “That which is simple is always false; that which is not simple is always unusable”. Kala Kawa, a widely read blogger, recently wrote, “Something I Wrote On Pakistan Day”. In that particular blogpost, the blogger expressed his opinion about “confronting your own biases or assumptions” and “middle class … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Conservation, Islam, Islamism, Pakistan, Politics, Society, Taliban, Terrorism, Women
Murder of History (Part 2)
For Part 1, Click here. by Abdul Majeed I have written in for Posterity. In a hundred years’ time when the future historian sets out to contemplate the Pakistan of an age gone by and look for the causes that brought it low, he might find in this book of mine one small candle whose quivering flame will light his path. K.K.Aziz, in Preface to his book ‘The Murder of History’ We discussed last week about some of the prevalent … Read entire article »
Filed under: History, Identity, Islam, Literature, Pakistan, Society
Dismantling the barriers of hate
By Ghazala Akbar Midway between the cities of Lahore in Pakistan and Amritsar in India each about 25 km away is the village called Wagah. It stands on an ancient pathway that stretches from Kabul in the North West to Calcutta in the North East and beyond to Shonargaon in Bangladesh. Known variously in history as Uttara Patha, Sadaq – e -Azam or the Grand Trunk road, it was until very recently, the only road link … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, culture, Democracy, India, Pakistan, Politics, secular Pakistan, Society
Profile: Zaid Hamid
by Abdul Majeed Biography Zaid Hamid was born in Karachi on March 14, 1964. His father, Col. Zaman Hamid (Retd), served in the Pakistan Army. Zaid spent his early life in Karachi. He received a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Computer Systems Engineering from NED University, Karachi in 1980′s. According to the brochure published by BrassTacks, available on the website www.zaidhamid.pk. Zaid Hamid rose to the fore when he started a program named Brass Tacks on a TV channel, discussing … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, History, Islam, Pakistan, Politics, Society, Terrorism
Murder of History(Part 1)
by Abdul Majeed I have written in for Posterity. In a hundred years’ time when the future historian sets out to contemplate the Pakistan of an age gone by and look for the causes that brought it low, he might find in this book of mine one small candle whose quivering flame will light his path. K.K.Aziz, in Preface to his book ‘The Murder of History’ In the last 64 years, a lot of wrong Information has been passed on as “facts” by our textbooks and Media. In this article, I have mentioned some of the most popular myths about Pakistan History and tried to debunk them using authentic sources. I should admit that this is a beginner’s effort, I don’t claim to possess absolute knowledge nor do I claim that whatever … Read entire article »
The Curious Case of Difa e Pakistan Council
Difa-e-Pakistan is an Urdu word meaning Defense of Pakistan. Difa-e-Pakistan Council means a council willing to/responsible for defending Pakistan. The semantics dictate that the said council should comprise of representatives of the armed forces, the para-military forces, domestic law enforcement agencies, defense ministry and foreign ministry. In fact, the esteemed council that has come to the fore recently consists of none of the above. In the words of the journalist Ejaz Haider, it’s a “circus”. Much … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islam, Pakistan, Politics, Society, Taliban, Terrorism, Uncategorized
Is Islam a patriarchical tradition (I): Understanding the hermeneutical gap
By Aasem Bakhshi We have made it a Qur’an in Arabic, that ye may be able to understand. (Al Quran, 43:3) Nothing exists except through language. -Gadamer in Truth and Method Islamic tradition, in many ways, can be described as a tradition of literature and one way to legitimately analyze the above question is to ask whether the core Islamic texts, i.e., Quran and Hadith are necessarily patriarchical [1]. Although it is true that Quran was originally revealed in a primarily patriarchical society and, at least in Islamic tradition’s formative and post-formative periods, interpreted mostly by the subjects of patriarchies, its text equally allows more coherent, less subjective and unauthoritarian interpretations to contest the popular traditionalist (or orthodox) interpretations with a visible patriarchical bent [2]. A … Read entire article »
The Curious Case of Suo Moto Notice of Ms. Odho’s Wine Bottles
By D. Asghar Any reasonable person will not disagree, that if Ms. Odho was violating any law by carrying two wine bottles in her luggage, from Islamabad to Karachi on a PIA flight, she is answerable. If there is a law that requires her to declare the spirits she is carrying, with her on a domestic flight, then it should be enforced. There is no question that Ms. Odho is a frequent traveler and more than likely … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Fashion, Images, Judiciary, lawyers movement, Pakistan, Politics, Society
“Problems of a Multi-Cultural society and the way out”
By Riaz Ali Toori A particular community of people living in a country or region, and having shared customs, laws, and organizations is called a society. The social fabrics of a society make it inter-dependent. There could be peculiar differences among the people living in a society that lead to conflicts that sometime lead to great dilemma like war on terror. The gush of unrest we are witnessing today is just because of clash of thoughts and lack of tolerance among the individuals. The other human catastrophes including poverty, unemployment and inflation also play a vital role in fortifying the conflicts. The influx of divergence could be disastrous enough to lead this world towards complete collapse. We need orchestrated efforts to bring down the rising temperature to a freezing point in order … Read entire article »
The Vagaries of Hinglish
By Usman Look up Urdish in the dictionary and you probably won’t find it. It is an allusive concept known only to those who, like me, are prone to muddling their English with their Urdu with such unfortunate flair that, all too often, our hotchpotch concoctions throw others into an abyss of lingual perplexity. I am the first to admit that it is an obtrusive habit which can be annoying even at the best of times. After all, what Urdu speaker wants be asked who wears the patloon in their household or hear the car diggy be described as a joota? I know of a cousin of mine from the States who once told his Pakistani friends to zara latko (hang out) whilst they waited for him. Probably the most common example … Read entire article »
Raymond Davis-Immune or not?
By Dr. Niaz Murtaza The Vienna conventions (VC) suggest that he is immune while Pakistan’s own laws suggest that he is not immune as a technical and administrative staff. So which of these laws should apply in this case? As a signatory to the Vienna convention, the answer for Pakistan is clear—once you sign an international treaty, you have to bring your local laws in line with it. So, even if there is a difference between the international law and the local law, then the international law will prevail and we better adhere to international law if we want to remain a member in good standing within the international community. So does this mean that he should be freed? A closer look at the Vienna conventions is necessary (which is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activism, Islam, Pakistan, Society, Terrorism, USA
Raymond Davis and the Vienna Convention
By Raza Rumi Yet another crisis has erupted in Pakistan. Raymond Davis, an American national driving on the busiest corner of Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city, shot at two Pakistani nationals on January 27, 2011. Soon he was arrested by the provincial authorities and is now being tried under the Pakistani laws. Many questions have emerged: was Davis a diplomat; why was he in Pakistan and if he enjoys diplomatic immunity or not. Recent developments suggest that … Read entire article »
Discoursing Blasphemy (I): Deconstructing the Contemporary Authoritarian Context
by Aasem Bakhshi The materials could be used to construct either the authoritative or the authoritarian. If the authoritarian is constructed, the text is rendered subservient and submerged into its representer and reader. If authoritative is constructed, the text survives unencumbered and unlimited by its representer and reader. – Khaled Abou El Fadl in Conference of the Books Imagine your were born into a middle or lower-middle class Christian family in Islamic Republic of Pakistan. This ironic accident of nature would automatically grant you the deplorable status among approximately one percent ignorant, disbelieving and impure inhabitants of the otherwise land of the pure. Stretch your imagination a little further and assume being grown up to become an individual with religious conviction in line with any of the mainstream Christian denominations. Needless to … Read entire article »
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