Pakistan’s Police State and the Diaspora – Responsibility of Dissent
By AA Khalid : The death of Saleem Shahzad is a solid reminder as to who really is in charge in Pakistan. After unprecedented public pressure and public scrutiny the Army acting through its ever faithful bulldog and enforcer the ISI has struck at the heart of honest and brave journalism. It seems our Army and ISI spends more time quashing dissent, torturing its own citizens and carrying out illegal disappearances and killings rather than protecting … Read entire article »
Five Myths About Pakistan
We are cross posting this short but insightful post by Anatol Lieven where he discusses the five popular myths about Pakistan. In our view, these myths as much of a must-read for non-Pakistanis as they are for the Pakistani nation. (Editors, PTH) … Read entire article »
Filed under: Islam, Islamism, Pakistan, Religion, state, Taliban
The wheat mountains of the Punjab
By M. S. SWAMINATHAN In this file photo workers cover bags of wheat at a godown in Fatehgarh Saheb district of Punjab. Farmers in Punjab contribute nearly 40 per cent of the wheat and 26 per cent of the rice needed to sustain the public distribution system. The arrival of large quantities of wheat in the grain markets of the Punjab-Haryana region is a heart-warming sight, while poor storage is a matter of national shame. It was in April-May … Read entire article »
Filed under: south asia, state
State-Owned Religion Reduces Religious Observance – The Economics of Faith
By A A Khalid Modern economic theory has come to the consensus that private enterprise can best respond to the demands and preferences of the consumer. It is only when enterprise is divorced from absolute State control that firms and businesses can respond to public tastes, aspirations and desires. A centralised State controlled economy reduces enterprise, competition and breeds a bureaucratic apathy which gives rise to inefficiency and yes even a fall in living standards. The fact that the State controlled economy has failed in the modern world not only to guarantee efficiency but also to uphold the goals it upheld for itself such as equality and justice is testament to the fact that when governments are involved and when power is centralised the results are pitiful and ultimately spill over … Read entire article »
Badshah Khan
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, India’s “Frontier Gandhi”, Talks to Kavita Chhibber I had the pleasure of interviewing Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan while visiting Kashmir on vacation. Badhshah Khan or Frontier Gandhi as he was fondly known, was in Kashmir for medical treatment, and was gracious enough to tolerate my feeble attempts at urdu as well as my youth. His deep voice still resonates in my ears, his sweetness and warmth, still fresh in my mind. This interview … Read entire article »
Changing National Security State – Workers Party seminar calls for a new paradigm
Lahore, 20th April 2011 – Speakers at a special seminar on the ‘National Security State’ organized on Wednesday at the Kissan Hall on Mozang Road urged a broad consensus of all political and social forces on the need to reorient the priorities of the Pakistani state away from ‘national security’ to ‘human security’ and warned that religious radicalization, ethnic polarization and imperialist influence in Pakistan would all intensify if this transformation does not take place. The seminar was organized by the Worker’s Party Pakistan (WPP) and featured the participation of a large number of political workers, students, trade unionists and intellectuals. Speaking on the occasion scholar-activist Dr. Aasim Sajjad said that since the creation of the country, the permanent institutions of the state – the military and bureaucracy – have maintained … Read entire article »
Filed under: liberal Pakistan, state
Nations within a Nation; The Search for a Pakistani Nation – 1
By Adnan Syed “Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous” (Voltaire) Nations within a Nation I write these lines in the year 2011. It is 63 years since my country gained independence. The idea of a separate homeland for Indian Muslims gained momentum during the momentous decade of 1940s. The idea of Pakistan proved so strong and infectious among the Muslim masses of then United India that within 7 years after a resolution was passed by Muslim League, Pakistan was born. From the very beginnings, this idea of Pakistan contained certain vagueness to it. Two Nation Theory stipulated that India primarily consisted of two major nations that were distinct from each other. The primary cause of this difference came from their religions. Nations were derived from their religious identity; even if cultural differences were distinct, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Egalitarian Pakistan, Identity, Islam, Jinnah, Pak Tea House, Religion, Rights, state
Yielding in Front of Extremism
By Adnan Syed I am attaching two links here that movingly touch upon the state of barbarity that is inflicted upon the nation of Pakistan. Please give thirteen minutes of your precious time to the moving words of Member National Aseembly Mrs. Asia Nasir. These words describe the anguish and pain of the very Pakistanis who are being discriminated by the society, as well as by the institutions of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Terror reigns supreme in Pakistan. The righteous ones are hunting and killing everyone who calls for absolute equality of every human inside the boundaries of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. And in this environment, this brave lady comes out and unequivocally condemns the barbarity that the religious minorities are facing. She has more guts than the spineless members of parliament … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Egalitarian Pakistan, Islam, Islamabad, Islamism, Justice, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, minorities, Pak Tea House, Religion, Rights, state, Taliban
An Angry but Patriotic Retort
By Adnan Syed This post is meant as an “honorable” and “patriotic” reply to all the liberal bloggers and PTH-likes who cast doubt on popular nationalist narratives, and point out the nationalistic ideology steeped in hatred and revulsion against foreign powers as self defeating. The post had its genesis in Raza Raja’s article titled “The Misplaced Hatred and Our Rational Self Interest”[i], but is also applicable to all articles calling for restraining our patriotic fervor when it comes to drones, Blackwater, and now Raymond Davis. (AZW) Hold on right there you so called liberal Pakistani bloggers: Are you suggesting here is that Pakistan is in a mess here because of America? Do you not think it was Americans, not us who were pursuing the ideas of strategic depth by backing every rabid extremist like … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Economy, Egalitarian Pakistan, FATA, Identity, India, Islam, Islamabad, North-West Frontier Province, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Politics, state, USA
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
What Makes a Terrorist?
By Taji M How do you turn a young man or a woman into a terrorist, particularly a suicide bomber? The answer is a mystery to me as well as a large number of Pakistanis. We thought we had a predictable answer a few years back. The poor underprivileged children studying in hard-line Madarssas could be brainwashed and turned into killing machines. But if that was the real answer we should have had thousands of terrorists running rampant, thankfully this is not the case. More recently we are increasingly coming across educated upper middle class Muslims who have become hardliners to the level of resorting to terrorism. Some of them have in fact been living in conflict-free countries of Europe. So again, what changes a person into a killer? Unfortunately to be … Read entire article »
Rescuing the Pakistani state
Raza Rumi Three weeks after the floods have broken Pakistan’s back, the international community is yet to show its resolve in helping a drowning country. The reasons for such a slow response are erroneously being understood in the context of the Pakistani government or the current crop of civilians in power. However, this is a narrow twist to the reality. The real angst and distrust being displayed by the world is at the Pakistani ‘state’. The situation is also reflective of the duplicity of international opinion makers and power-centres in labelling Pakistan as a country with an ‘image problem’. One is sick of reading nauseating reports on how the post-earthquake assistance was ‘diverted’ or squandered. The truth is that in 2005 a military dictator was ruling Pakistan and the entire world was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Pakistan, public policy, state
The State Must Go Weeding
Ali Abbas, PTH’s new author has contributed this thoughtful piece with a sanguine conclusion – “This burden of existence lies on the state’s shoulders, whether we like it or not” For all its shortcomings and its stunted political development, the Pakistani state has been faced with multiple challenges over the last ten years. Each of these challenges have highlighted its weaknesses, wrenched out a response and provided a vital prod in the ‘right’ direction. After the takeover of government, Musharraf’s media reforms not only brought national focus on the lack of an independent media in the country, but triggered a decade of development for the media industry which has been unprecedented in the history of the country. A maturing of this phenomenon is the criticism that this free media is now receiving … Read entire article »
Manmohan Singh’s ignorance & Indian media's blackout
Raza Rumi I had posted a short version of this post on my personal website which quite unexpectedly drew the attention of several Indian internet warriors on their cyber-raths. It is a message that needs to be shared here. I have therefore decided to expand this and say what needs to be said. I have always supported India-Pakistan dialogue and the peace process and the purpose of this post is not to demean India or Indians but to express the shock that many of us – peaceniks – have experienced in the recent days. I have been accused of being ‘soft’ on India and constantly under attack by jingoists in Pakistan. Therefore it pains us to see such displays of insularity, indifference and isolates us with the remarks: “see we told … Read entire article »
Filed under: India, Pakistan, Pakistan-India Peace Process, Politics, state, Terrorism
A Vicious Circle
By Adnan Syed Pakistan is passing through a vicious negative feedback loop that is beginning to gather momentum. The vicious circle is a result of country’s inability to provide for the basic individual rights of its citizens. Combine that with a burgeoning population, and the rampant nationalist tensions within the society that have been suppressed in the name of religious identity, Pakistan is staring at a nightmarish scenario in the coming decade. Pakistan needs to realize that the existential threat is coming from the failure of its society and not due to the external influences that consume majority of the resources of our nation. Unless we start spending on providing for the four basic rights to our citizens, the chaos will just feed on itself in the years to come. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, Constitution, human rights, Identity, Islam, Islamabad, musings, Pak Tea House, Pakistan, Rights, state
PTH biweekly Cartoon
Picture of the Week
-
Sunrise at the Arabian Sea, Charna Island
24 Dec 2011
(4 Comments)
PTH on facebook
Recent Comments