Where I Disagree With Some Prominent Liberals of Our Time
Raza Habib Raja As a philosophy liberalism is more inward looking and hence does not try to shift blame on the outside forces. By its orientation, it also does not have an overly negative assumption about human nature and consequently is not obsessed with crime and punishment. It believes in the rationality of humans and further assumes that human intelligence is capable of creating an artifice where ethnic, linguistic and other such “ natural” differences can be accommodated without creating rift. Its emphasis and belief on human rationality rather than instinct logically lead it to being more fluid and progressive. Conservative point of views by and large are grounded on instincts (which are permanent) and it is no surprise that conservatives are traditionalists. Yes, within conservative side, there will be variations … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Army, Constitution, Democracy, Judiciary, Punjabi, Taliban, Terrorism, war, Zardari
Pakistan's disaster could lead to a systemic collapse
Raza Rumi The colossal humanitarian tragedy and the imminent economic meltdown, will now shape a new Pakistan or rather, exacerbate its predicament in the months and years to come. Pakistan’s chronic political instability, structural economic constraints and a warped national security policy are all going to be affected by the unfolding drama of the national disaster, perhaps the severest, in the country’s history. Whilst the challenges have snowballed within a short duration of ten days, the … Read entire article »
Filed under: baluchistan, Pakistan, strategy, Terrorism, violence, Zardari
“The more they hate, the more we love…”
PTH is publishing this post submitted by Riaz Ali Toori. The views expressed are those of the author’s; however, in the interest of free speech and noting the biases of mainstream media, we are giving space to such pieces here. “The much they hate Zardari, the more we love Zardari” the slogan I read over twitter by a worker of PPP. The comments on facebook attracted more I read “thanks to the opponents of PPP and Asif Ali Zardari for arousing the languid feelings of Bhuttoism inside my soul as a result of their chauvinism”. Forcibly ruling over bodies is possible but rule on hearts is thorny. Nasty Zia ruled on the people of Pakistan for more than a decade but he couldn’t create a place in hearts of the people. Today Zia is … Read entire article »
Our reaction to the floods
Raza Rumi Thousands are dead and injured and millions are displaced due to the floods. The national reaction to this calamitous situation has been that the president should have cancelled his visit to the UK. The president too has not been sagacious. But the debate is frivolous and sidetracks the real issue: our sheer lack of preparedness for natural disasters and emergency management. Five years ago, a massive-earthquake rocked Pakistan. Later, several institutions such as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) were set up to deal with natural calamities. While it would be unfair to critique the good work done by the NDMA, it is clear that centralised authorities and relief machinery are of little use in a populous, diverse country like Pakistan. In the last five years, as the recent floods indicate, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Environment, North-West Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Pakistan, Zardari
Fatal obsession
Raza Rumi It is a matter of public record that the founder of Pakistan had stated that Indo-Pakistan relationship will resemble that of the USA and Canada. Even before the Partition, Jinnah in a 1946 press conference stated, “the two states (Pakistan and India)… will be friends and will go to each other’s rescue in case of danger and will be able to say ‘hands off’ to other nations. We shall then have a Munroe doctrine more solid than America…” This vision along with other pronouncements by Jinnah is buried in the debris of Pakistan’s national security paranoia. The spectre of India and its ‘hegemonic designs’ to use an oft-quoted phrase remain central to Pakistan’s security paradigm. The unwavering view on India is what explains the context for the discussion paper entitled, … Read entire article »
Filed under: India, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan, Politics, public policy, south asia, violence, war, Zardari
Hating Zardari
Hit and run By Shakir Husain The News, May 17, 2010 Whenever people ask me about the funniest Asif Zardari joke I’ve ever heard, my response is always, “That he is the most successful president in the 63 year history of Pakistan.” I can picture readers cringing, noses wrinkling, and people asking to be passed the sick bag. What makes this nauseating sensation worse for most is that if you can get past the silly grin, the last name, the face – whatever your pet Asif Zardari peeve is, you will realise it’s true. Before you abandon this piece here to go and fire off a nasty email to me and the Editor, think about this rationally by removing the last name from the presidency, and just objectively look at what the man … Read entire article »
…On the Birth of Balochistan Liberation Army
The Stunning Investigative Story on the Birth of Balochistan Liberation Army By Tariq Saeedi in Ashgabat, Sergi Pyatakov in Moscow, Ali Nasimzadeh in Zahidan, Qasim Jan in Kandahar and SM Kasi in Quetta MARCH 1: Deception and treachery. Live and let die. The ultimate zero sum game. Repetition of bloody history: Call it what you may, something is happening in the Pakistani province of Balochistan that defies comprehension on any conventional scale. Four correspondents and dozens of associates who collectively logged more than 5000 kilometers during the past seven weeks in pursuit of a single question – What is happening in Balochistan? – have only been able to uncover small parts of the entire picture. However, if the parts have any proportional resemblance to the whole, it is a frightening and mind-boggling picture. … Read entire article »
Filed under: baluchistan, Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan-India Peace Process, quetta, Religion, Taliban, Terrorism, violence, war, Zardari
We Shall Overrun: The Young, Urban, Middle Class Pakistani Manifesto
By Nadeem F. Paracha http://blog.dawn.com/2010/03/20/we-shall-overrun/ 1. Asif Ali Zardari is the devil incarnate. 2. The Pakistan Army is the saviour. 3. The Taliban are resisting American imperialism. 4. We hate American foreign policy unless it suits us. We are against American imperialism if it means we have to ditch the Taliban as that would be against the aspirations of our founding father, Mohammed Bin Qasim. We will no longer shop at Marks and Spencer because they are somehow connected to Israel. However, that does not mean we will switch off our computers and cell phones whose chip technology has been made possible due to major contributions from Israeli scientists. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Al Qaeda, Army, baluchistan, Benazir Bhutto, Democracy, FATA, Humor, India, Iran, Islam, Islamabad, Pakistan, Punjab, Punjabi, Religion, Taliban, USA, Writers, Yusuf Raza Gillani, Zardari
Giving credit where it is due
Published in the Daily Times Giving Credit Where it’s Due (Daily Times 04/26) By Agha Haidar Raza Pakistan recently had two major delegations visiting the US. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi led the first contingent under the auspices of a new ‘Strategic Dialogue’ with the US. In the second trip, Prime Minister Gilani led his team to President Obama’s first Nuclear Summit. Attended by over 47 heads of state, the summit was the largest gathering of world leaders to descend upon the US soil since the 1940s. Recognised as one of the world’s safe-keepers of a nuclear stockpile, Pakistan gained a nod of approval from the world’s seven nuclear bomb carriers. I am unaware if many journalists or citizens in Pakistan read foreign newspapers, magazines or even blogs, but over the course of the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Army, Benazir Bhutto, Constitution, Democracy, Economy, Egalitarian Pakistan, India, Islamabad, Judiciary, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan, public policy, state, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, Yusuf Raza Gillani, Zardari
It is not perfect, but it is still a historic Constitutional Amendment
Daily Dawn Editorial, Published April 09, 2010 http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/historic-940 They’ve done it. Proving all the naysayers wrong, dismissing all the conspiracy theorists, rejecting all those who would be spoilers, the National Assembly of Pakistan has approved a constitution that for the first time in decades will have the broad support of the people’s elected representatives. Such was the bonhomie in the house yesterday that regular watchers of parliament may have rubbed their eyes in disbelief: was that really Chaudhry Nisar, leader of the opposition, the PML-N attacker-in-chief, a seemingly perennially angry man, praising the PPP co-chairman, President Asif Ali Zardari? Yes, it was. It was that kind of a day. A historic day in Pakistan’s parliamentary history, one that the MNAs deserve a heartfelt thanks for. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Islamabad, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan, Yusuf Raza Gillani, Zardari
General in the Hood
(The views expressed here are not necessarily subscribed by the PTH – Editors) THE TIMES OF INDIA By Indrani Baghchi March 22, 2010 Those who know him say he is a brooder. But those who know him well will tell you that’s just one of the layers to the deeply complicated and thinking mind of Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The bluster that marked Musharraf has been dumped for quiet gravitas as the man from Rawalpindi goes about turning friends like the US and Britain into closer allies and outmanoeuvering not-so-friendly neighbours like India and Afghanistan at international fora. In a country brought to its knees by terror, corruption and an inept political system, the former ISI chief is putting up a masterly show as he calls the shots. Sitting with foreign minister S … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Army, Benazir Bhutto, FATA, India, Islamabad, Pakistan, south asia, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, Yusuf Raza Gillani, Zardari
Army Chief Driving Pakistan’s Agenda for Talks
Pakistan military is at it again. The news that Army Chief is driving Pakistani policy agenda in Washington is another sign shown by the Pakistan Army that bloody civilians are not to be trusted, yet again. After making a mess of Pakistan by running proxy policies in its Eastern and Western borders, why is the Army taking a lead in developing the new policy for the next decade. Has Army not learnt from the past? In a democratic state, it is the government that sets the policies and leads all policy discussions with the foreign nations. All of us who wish to see democratic rule thrive must condemn this manoeuvre by the Pakistan Army. “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it” (AZW) Cross Post from The New York … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Army, Democracy, FATA, India, Islam, Islamabad, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Media, Pakistan, state, strategy, Taliban, Terrorism, USA, war, Yusuf Raza Gillani, Zardari
Khuda Hafiz Pakistan
by Nirupama Subramanian Cross Post from http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article258515.ece “There is a Pakistani in every Indian; and an Indian in every Pakistani,” President Asif Ali Zardari famously said two years ago. Those words rang in my head with new resonance as I packed my bags and left Pakistan recently after a nearly four-year-long assignment as this newspaper’s Islamabad-based correspondent. It should have been easy to leave a country that is by word and deed hostile to India, and where the state machinery treats every Indian as a “RAW agent”, spending considerable human and material resources on the surveillance of the only two Indian journalists — from The Hindu and Press Trust India — that are permitted to be based there. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Afghanistan, Army, culture, Democracy, India, Islamabad, journalism, liberal Pakistan, Media, Pakistan, Society, Terrorism, Yusuf Raza Gillani, Zardari
Zardari signs 2 laws aimed at protecting working class
“The government’s job is not only to maintain a good balance sheet but also work for the welfare of the people,” Zardari Staff Reporter Daily Times March 06, 2010 President says govt has handed over 10% shares of state-owned entities to employees for free KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday signed two laws passed by parliament to repeal the Removal from Services (Special Powers) Ordinance, 2000 and amend the Services Tribunal Act. The president signed the bills at a ceremony held at the Sindh chief minister’s house. According to an official statement, Zardari said the government would preserve the rights of the working class while ensuring a conducive environment for business, setting the stage for another phase of prosperity and development in Pakistan. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Economy, Egalitarian Pakistan, Labour, Law, Left, Marxism, Pakistan, Rights, Zardari
Pakistan: democratic governance is the only way forward
by Raza Rumi Given the average shelf life of any civilian government, it is almost miraculous that the incumbent government has survived and there are signs that its removal is not immediate. The longevity of civilian order has less to do with the inherent strengths of its style of governance or delivery of public goods that it had promised in its manifesto. The survival of this government is an outcome of the lack of options … Read entire article »
Filed under: Democracy, Liberal Democratic Pakistan, Pakistan, Politics, public policy, state, Yusuf Raza Gillani, Zardari
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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